How ‘Marvel Zombies’ Brought the Undead to Life

Chaos and carnage are coming to Disney+.

Marvel Zombies is almost here, a gruesome, ghoulish new series following some of Marvel’s greatest heroes as they struggle to survive against a zombie horde. The four-episode Marvel Animation series will premiere Sept. 24 on Disney+, weaving a grisly tale of blood, brains, and bravery in the face of the apocalypse. And director Bryan Andrews cautions that not all of your favorite heroes will survive.

“Are they going to make it? Who knows?” Andrews teases. “Hopefully, the audience can be on pins and needles, wondering who’s going to make it out.”

Created by Andrews and Zeb Wells, the series is Marvel Television’s first TV-MA animated show, set in a world devastated by a zombie virus. With the Avengers out of commission, a desperate group of survivors emerge, racing across a dystopian landscape to try and bring an end to the super-powered undead.

Marvel Zombies continues the frightening story first launched in an episode of Marvel Television’s What If…?, imagining a universe where some of Marvel’s greatest Super Heroes are transformed into flesh-eating, zombified versions of themselves. But zombies have an even longer history in the comics: The idea of a Marvel zombieverse first popped up in Mark Millar and Greg Land’s ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, where Reed Richards discovers an alternate dimension overrun by the undead. These insatiable ghouls later got their own standalone comic, taking the spotlight in Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips’ beloved series MARVEL ZOMBIES.

Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum was a longtime fan of the MARVEL ZOMBIES comics, so when he and the filmmakers first began developing potential story ideas for What If…?, they were, ahem, hungry to bring the undead from page to screen.

“It’s just so much fun as a concept,” Winderbaum explains. “When Bryan and I were making What If…?, it was a real early episode idea that we knew we wanted. It was almost the reason to make the show, just to do a zombies episode.”

Even in the early days of sketching out ideas for What If…?, Winderbaum and Andrews knew there was plenty of untapped story potential, and they found themselves daydreaming about what other undead tales they could tell. Those brainstorming sessions evolved into the full series Marvel Zombies, spanning four episodes of high-stakes zombie action.

The show assembles a vast cast of characters from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe — both living and undead. The series begins through the eyes of fan favorites Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), Kate Bishop/Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld), and Riri Williams/Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), who’ve teamed up in their struggle to survive. Andrews explains that he wanted to welcome in the audience by introducing the apocalypse through their eyes, and he jumped at the chance to explore the friendship between these three characters.

“When we meet them in [Marvel Zombies], they’re definitely young and possibly naïve,” Andrews explains. “They’ve got incredible skills, but they may not be prepared for the amount of pain that’s coming. Being able to turn that on them and see how long their hope survives is good. If you did that with an older character, they’ve been through a lot of stuff. But doing it with younger characters, all bets are off.”

The series also features an impressive list of voice talent, including many MCU actors who returned for Zombies. In addition to Vellani, Steinfeld, and Thorne, the voice cast includes Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Tessa Thompson, Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Wyatt Russell, Randall Park, and more. Andrews says the actors’ input was invaluable in the recording booth, and he points to Harbour and Pugh as the perfect example: The two actors have played father-daughter duo Alexei Shostakov and Yelena Belova in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, and although they recorded Marvel Zombies separately, they were able to immediately riff on each other’s line delivery and suggest small improvisations to elevate every scene.

“Those moments are great where the actors get what you’re doing, but they’re able to have fun and feel relaxed and bring some new stuff,” Andrews adds. “It helps add that extra spice, that extra kick.”

Marvel Zombies also marks a milestone for Marvel Television as its first TV-MA animated series. Winderbaum and Andrews say there was never any doubt about embracing the guts and gore. After all, every good zombie story needs a little blood.  

“We wanted to do justice to the genre that we’re fans of,” Winderbaum explains. “We just didn’t want to do a PG-13 zombie show! We were surprised at how much we got away with in What If…?, to be honest with you. But this really levels up in a major way.”

And if fans were impressed by all the exploding heads and gnarly fight scenes in the trailer? Well, Marvel Zombies has even more gruesome surprises in store.  

“There’s a moment where Namor shows up and does horrible things,” Andrews teases. “There are certain things that aren’t shown in the trailer, so hopefully there are still a few surprises left. Every episode has things that I’m stoked for the audience to see.”

“There are a number of twists,” Winderbaum adds with a smile. “I’m very excited to see the audience’s reaction.”  

All four episodes of Marvel Zombies will be available Sept. 24 on Disney+.