The series features an ensemble cast including Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Hailee Steinfeld, Tessa Thompson, Dominique Thorne, and Iman Vellani reprising their roles from previous MCU media, alongside Todd Williams. Marvel Studios was developing several animated series in addition to What If...? by June 2021, including a spin-off based on "What If... Zombies?!" which was announced in November. Wells and Andrews were both involved by then. The series features the same animation style as What If...?, with Stellar Creative Lab returning from that series to provide the animation. It will be Marvel Studios Animation's first series to be rated TV-MA.
Marvel Zombies is scheduled to be released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025, and will consist of four episodes. It will be part of Phase Six of the MCU.
Premise
Marvel Zombies is set in the alternate timeline introduced in the What If...? episode "What If... Zombies?!" (2021), where a virus has turned most of the world's population, including the Avengers, into zombies. The series follows a group of survivors as they discover the key to bringing an end to the zombie plague, which leads them to risk their lives traveling across a dystopian landscape and fighting superpowered zombies to save the world.[1][2]
Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi: A highly skilled martial artist who was trained at a young age to be an assassin by his father Xu Wenwu.[4] In the series, Shang-Chi was bitten by a zombie on his right arm, and so he uses the mystical Ten Rings to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of his body.[9]
Awkwafina as Katy: Shang-Chi's best friend and former co-worker as a hotel valet who wields the Ten Rings alongside him[4]
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man: A former petty criminal and superhero. The character's still-living head was preserved in a jar after he lost his body in the same process that cured him of the infection, as depicted in the What If...? episode "What If... Zombies?!" (2021).[2]
The series is a continuation of the zombie-infested alternate timeline that was introduced in the What If...? episode "What If... Zombies?!" (2021), picking up five years after its ending which saw a zombified Thanos appear with a nearly complete Infinity Gauntlet.[16][27] Feige and animation head Brad Winderbaum enjoyed that episode so much that they suggested the story be continued,[24] and development began after a positive fan response to the episode.[1] Originally conceived as a film,[16] Andrews called Marvel Zombies' four episodes a "mini-movie event".[24] Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt served as executive producers alongside Wells and Andrews, with Danielle Costa and Carrie Wassenaar as producers.[15] During Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Zombies and the other projects discussed were introduced as being part of the "Marvel Animated Multiverse".[28] Also at the panel, Marvel Zombies was announced to be the studio's first animated series to be rated TV-MA so it could feature all the "gore and splatter you want from a zombie show".[29][30]
Ahead of the series premiere in September 2025, Andrews and Winderbaum revealed that Marvel Studios had plans for a second season, though the duo noted that an official renewal was dependent on audience responses to the series' first set of episodes.[31]
Writing
Wells wrote the series' teleplays, based on stories he conceived with Andrews.[15] Winderbaum called the series "pretty intense" and compared the level of violence to the Marvel Zombies comics.[32] Andrews noted that the TV-MA rating meant they "don't have to pull punches. We can be a little bit more hardcore."[24] He said the series has humor mixed in with the action, violence, drama, and emotion,[33] and added, "It's not just a zombie story, it's a sweeping adventure—one with themes of hope and despair, and that's what you want from a rich zombie story."[24] Profanity is used sparingly in moments where it "fit", and the creators "tr[ied] not to be gratuitous about it", with Andrews explaining that the violence and intense character beats were what led to the TV-MA rating.[16]
The series introduces the original character Blade Knight, a combination of Eric Brooks / Blade and Moon Knight. Originally, the creatives planned for the character to simply be a version of Blade as Marvel Zombies was being developed alongside the planned Blade film by Marvel Studios. However, once the film entered various development delays, the Marvel Zombies team decided to create a new version of the character who was the Fist of Khonshu, freeing them creatively to not be tied to plans for the film.[34]
Also in September 2025, Andrews and Winderbaum addressed T'Challa / Black Panther's inclusion in Marvel Zombies, noting that while the character appears in the series, T'Challa does not speak due to Marvel Studios deciding not to recast the role out of respect for T'Challa's MCU actor Chadwick Boseman following his death in August 2020, when development on the series had yet to start. Because of this, the creative team of Marvel Zombies decided to have Peter Parker narrate the scenes in which T'Challa appeared on screen so they could revisit his character in "some strange way" to be with him, acknowledging that if Boseman were still alive, they would have taken "completely different choices". They showed an early animatic to Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) director Ryan Coogler to get his notes, who gave them some great ideas for the sequence that were "really additive".[36]
Animation and design
The series features the same cel-shaded animation style as What If...?, with character likenesses based on the actors from the films.[37][38] For example, Blade Knight retains the likeness of Mahershala Ali, who has been cast as the character for the MCU films, despite being voiced by a different actor in the series.[8] The animation is "2.5D", with 3D models rendered with 2D lighting to appear like flat drawings.[39] Animation was provided by Stellar Creative Lab, one of the studios that worked on What If...?.[40] Paul Lasaine served as the production designer, after previously working on What If...?.[41] Many of the animation crew who worked on the series appear as background zombies.[27]
Marketing
The series was discussed during Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, when artwork of the characters was revealed.[1] Andrews and Winderbaum promoted the series during Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the D23 convention in August 2024, where footage was shown.[42][37][43] Both Germain Lussier of Gizmodo and Ray Flook of Bleeding Cool compared the footage to the Mad Max franchise.[42][37] More footage from the series was included in a video that was released by Disney+ in October, announcing the release schedule for Marvel Television and Marvel Animation projects through the end of 2025.[44] More footage was included in a sizzle reel that was shown at Disney's upfront presentation in May 2025.[45]
The official trailer was released on September 2, 2025,[26] featuring the song "From Me to U" by Babymetal and Poppy.[46] According to The Hollywood Reporter, the trailer was the second-biggest launch for a Marvel Studios Animation series after X-Men '97 (2024–present), with Blade Knight the most-talked about character on social media.[47] Priya Prakash of Indiatimes highlighted some scenes from the trailer—such as Spider-Man decapitating a horde of zombies with his webs, and Blade Knight slicing a zombie Ghost with his sword—and stated that they show "how far Marvel is willing to push the envelope" with the series.[13]
Release
Marvel Zombies is scheduled to be released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025,[16] and will consist of four episodes.[48] It was previously scheduled to premiere on October 3.[15] In July 2022, the series had been expected to debut in 2024.[29] In January 2024, Andrews said he was unsure when the series would be released, revealing that the release date had been continually shifting,[49]:51:00–51:08 and the series was undated at that time.[50] Marvel Studios Animation's panel at D23 in August 2024 covered series, including Marvel Zombies, that were intended for release over the following 12 to 18 months, though it was specifically stated that Marvel Zombies would not be released "for a while".[51][52] Its October 2025 release month was announced in October 2024,[44] and was moved up to its September release date in August 2025.[16] The series will be part of Phase Six of the MCU.[53]
↑ Lee, Chris (January 13, 2023). "Inside the VFX Union Brewing in Hollywood". Vulture. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023. Alonso heads up Marvel's dedicated "mini-studio," Marvel Studios Animation, which is behind such shows as What If ...? [...] and the summer 2022 series of Vin Diesel–voiced original shorts, I Am Groot.
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