One of the most popular episodes of the recent Marvel What If…? series was the Marvel Zombies episode, with fans getting extremely excited about this new and horrific take on their favorite characters. And now, during Disney Plus day, Disney has confirmed that Marvel Studios will be making an animated original series based on Marvel Zombies.
Inspired by the limited-run comic series that ran from December 2005 to April 2006, Marvel Zombies focused on a Marvel universe that had been overrun by the undead, turning many heroes — from the weakest to the most powerful — into flesh-munching zombies. The series became popular with comic fans due to its fusion of action, suspense, black comedy, and gore, something that made it stick out amongst Marvel’s other early-2000s offerings.
The series proved popular enough to get several sequels and spin-offs. This included a crossover with Dynamite Comics called Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness. It also received five direct sequels, including Marvel Zombies 2 in 2007, Marvel Zombies 3 in 2008, Marvel Zombies 4 and Marvel Zombies Return in 2009, and finally Marvel Zombies 5 in 2010. On top of this, the zombies seen in these series have been regularly referenced in Marvel media, getting cameos in other comics, video games, and many different toy releases.
The What If…? episode focused on Marvel Zombies did deviate from the comic a decent amount. However, this didn’t prevent it from entertaining fans and critics alike, with many giving it high review scores and describing it as one of the best episodes of What If?
A testament to the episode’s popularity was that, during Disneyland’s Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween event, those who ventured into the Avengers’ Campus area could find the Zombified Captain America as a walk-around character. This led to many fans theorizing that a Marvel Zombies show was coming in the future, as many thought that Disney wouldn’t go to the trouble of making a whole new character suit for a one-off episode. Especially as other new characters introduced in What If? have not been featured in the parks.
One thing that has fans excited about this upcoming series is that the logo for the show looks exactly like the one used for the comics with the famous zombie font and the iconic spiral O. Many Marvel fans are debating if this new series will follow on from the What If…? episode or restart from the beginning and tell the story from the original comics. Many are hoping for the latter as if the series does follow the comics, it may give us our first glimpse of Magneto, and the Fantastic Four in the MCU as both are crucial to the comic’s storyline.
Currently, Marvel Zombies has no confirmed release date. But Disney will likely announce more about the show in the coming months.