Marvel Zombies was released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025, and consists of four episodes. It is a part of Phase Six of the MCU. It received mixed reviews from critics.
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]
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]
Teleplay by: Zeb Wells Story by: Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells
September24,2025(2025-09-24)
Five years after a zombie virus devastates Earth,[a]Kate Bishop, Riri Williams, Kamala Khan, and F.R.I.D.A.Y. survive together in New York. When they find a shrunken device inside a zombie S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, they travel to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Ohio to activate it. En route, they unknowingly enter an ongoing battle between a malfunctioning Ikaris and a zombie Carol Danvers. Danvers kills Kate, while Riri is bitten by a zombie. Riri and F.R.I.D.A.Y. sacrifice themselves to take Kamala away from the battlefield, where she is saved by Blade Knight, who takes her to Ohio. Upon arriving, they encounter Melina Vostokoff, Alexei Shostakov, and Yelena Belova, who have taken refuge and are guarded by Melina's controlled zombies. They determine that the device is a transmitter that must be used in outer space to broadcast a signal to the Nova Corps. The base is attacked by a zombie horde led by Okoye, who serves the Red Queen, Wanda Maximoff. The horde, which includes the zombies Steve Rogers,[b]Clint Barton, Ava Starr, and Emil Blonsky, storms and overwhelms the base's defenses. Though Alexei kills Rogers and Blade Knight kills Starr, Melina sacrifices herself to allow the others to escape. Blade Knight reveals that he knows of a ship capable of reaching space.
2
Episode 2
Bryan Andrews
Teleplay by: Zeb Wells Story by: Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells
September24,2025(2025-09-24)
In a flashback, Xu Shang-Chi, his best friend Katy Chen, FBI officer Jimmy Woo, and survivors Rick, Denise, and Sandra are saved from a zombie horde by the Ten Rings organization led by Shang-Chi's father Xu Wenwu. When Shang-Chi is bitten, Wenwu bestows him with his mystical Ten Rings to contain the infection and sacrifices himself to give them time to escape. In the present after fighting off Skrull bandits, Shang-Chi, Katy, Woo, Death Dealer, Rick, Denise, and Sandra arrive at Helmut Zemo's sanctuary, the repurposed Raft, along with Kamala's group. The two groups agree to work together, but en route to New Asgard, Zemo attempts to sacrifice them to the infected Talokanil for safe passage. Instead, a zombie Namor leads his people to attack the Raft, killing the refugees as Zemo and John Walker attempt to flee in an escape pod. Namor kills Walker, Rick, Denise, and Sandra. Kamala deduces that Wanda is after the transmitter before she kills Namor. When the Raft begins to sink, Yelena stays behind against Alexei's pleas to manually override the escape pod's launch. The group successfully escapes, while Yelena toasts her fallen allies before the Talokanil zombies break in and kill her.
3
Episode 3
Bryan Andrews
Teleplay by: Zeb Wells Story by: Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells
September24,2025(2025-09-24)
In a flashback, Peter Parker, Scott Lang's head, and T'Challa arrive in Wakanda only to see it conquered by a zombie Thanos.[c] The trio fight him alongside Thor, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot. Thanos kills Groot and Rocket before gravely injuring Thor and attempts to snap the Infinity Gauntlet. T'Challa sacrifices himself to push Thanos into Wakanda's vibranium core, destroying the Infinity Stones and releasing a surge of energy. Parker and Lang are saved by Rintrah, Sara, and the London Master, the remaining sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. In the present, Kamala and her group reach New Asgard, with Blade Knight convincing Valkyrie to let them in by way of the god Khonshu. The Asgardians have been feasting thanks to a gift from the Queen of Sokovia, Wanda herself, who reveals that she regained control of herself and is actually after Kamala's power to use with the energy surge. The food is revealed to be zombie remains that infects the Asgardians and Alexei, who then kill Zemo, Woo, and Death Dealer. While Thor fights Wanda, the remaining heroes escape in an Asgardian ship into space. They activate the transmitter, but the already stationed Nova Corps reveal that Earth has been quarantined, before attempting to kill them.
4
Episode 4
Bryan Andrews
Teleplay by: Zeb Wells Story by: Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells
September24,2025(2025-09-24)
The Nova Corps shoots down the spaceship, but the heroes are rescued by the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, who reveal that the surging energy of the Infinity Stones is being contained by "Infinity Hulk". Wanda arrives, having amassed enough zombies to defeat him and take the Infinity Stones' power for herself. Infinity Hulk initially fights off the zombies before the heroes arrive to defend him, but are soon overpowered. A zombified Thor arrives and kills Sara, the London Master, and Blade Knight. The overwhelming hordes also kills Rintrah, infects Shang-Chi, overwhelms Katy, Parker, and Lang, and Okoye stabs Valkyrie. Infinity Hulk unleashes a powerful blast to kill Thor, leaving him vulnerable and allowing Wanda an opening to take his power. Despite her initial refusal, Kamala is persuaded by Wanda to help her remake the world. After a blinding explosion, Kamala wakes up and reunites with Riri and Kate, with things seeming to have gone back to normal. However, reality flickers, and the real Riri tells Kamala she has hacked the system, and that what she is seeing is not real.
The series returns to 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.[30][33] Feige and animation head Brad Winderbaum enjoyed that episode so much that they suggested the story be continued,[29] and development began after a positive fan response to the episode.[1] Originally conceived as a film,[30] Andrews called Marvel Zombies' four episodes a "mini-movie event".[29] The change from a film to a miniseries was made in part because the creatives wanted to include Peter Parker / Spider-Man, as Marvel Studios is only able to use the character in short-form animation while Sony Pictures controls the character's other film and television rights.[34] 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.[35] 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".[36] 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".[37][38]
In September 2025, ahead of the series premiere, Winderbaum said that Marvel Studios had plans for a potential second season, which was dependent on a strong audience response to the first season to get greenlit.[39] He also noted that Marvel Zombies was "caught in the middle" of the studio's creative overhaul in late 2023 and was not planned to have additional seasons.[40] Andrews explained that the creatives had planned story elements for additional characters in the world who did not appear in the first season, such as Bucky Barnes, which he hoped to feature in a potential second season.[41]
Writing
Wells wrote the series' teleplays, based on stories he conceived with Andrews.[35] Winderbaum called the series "pretty intense" and compared the level of violence to the Marvel Zombies comics.[42] Andrews noted that the TV-MA rating meant they "don't have to pull punches. We can be a little bit more hardcore."[29] He said the series has humor mixed in with the action, violence, drama, and emotion,[43] 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."[29] 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.[30]
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.[44]T'Challa / Black Panther appears in the series following being featured in the What If...? episode, but does not speak, given Marvel Studios had decided not to recast the role following actor Chadwick Boseman's death in August 2020. Andrews said that had Boseman not died, the series would have made "completely different choices" with the character. Ryan Coogler, who directed the MCU films Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), provided "some great ideas" for the character's sequence that were "really additive" after being shown an early animatic of it.[45]
The series features the same cel-shaded animation style as What If...?, with character likenesses based on the actors from the films.[49][50] 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.[51] Animation was provided by Stellar Creative Lab, one of the studios that worked on What If...?.[52] Paul Lasaine served as the production designer, after previously working on What If...?.[53] Many of the animation crew who worked on the series appear as background zombies.[33]
Music
Laura Karpman and Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum returned from What If...? as the composers for Marvel Zombies.[54] The soundtrack was released on September 26, 2025.[55]
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.[56][49][57] Both Germain Lussier of Gizmodo and Ray Flook of Bleeding Cool compared the footage to the Mad Max franchise.[56][49] 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.[58] More footage was included in a sizzle reel that was shown at Disney's upfront presentation in May 2025.[59]
The official trailer was released on September 2, 2025,[32] featuring the song "From Me to U" by Babymetal and Poppy.[60] 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.[61] 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.[19]
Release
Marvel Zombies was released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025,[30] and consists of four episodes.[62] It was previously scheduled to premiere on October 3.[35] In July 2022, the series had been expected to debut in 2024.[37] In January 2024, Andrews said he was unsure when the series would be released, revealing that the release date had been continually shifting,[63]:51:00–51:08 and the series was undated at that time.[64] 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".[65][66] Its October 2025 release month was announced in October 2024,[58] and was moved up to its September release date in August 2025.[30] Andrews stated that Marvel Zombies was ready to release by late 2024 around Halloween, but another Marvel Studios miniseries, Agatha All Along, was already scheduled for release at that time, so Marvel Zombies was delayed to 2025 to prevent the ratings of both series from negatively impacting each other.[67][68] The series is part of Phase Six of the MCU.[69]
Reception
Viewership
Streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, which monitors daily updated VOD charts and streaming ratings across the globe, reported that Marvel Zombies was the most-streamed series on Disney+ in more than 30 countries following its release, ranking above Grey's Anatomy (2005–present), High Potential (2024–present), and Alien: Earth (2025–present).[70] In the United States, the series topped Disney+'s most-watched list during its first three days, becoming one of Marvel Studios Animation's best openings to date.[71] TVision, which tracks viewer attention, program reach, and engagement across more than 1,000 CTV apps, announced that Marvel Zombies was the third-most streamed show in the U.S. between September 22–28.[72] On September 29, the series ranked No. 2 overall on Disney+ in the United States, behind Elio (2025).[73] On October 6, Marvel Zombies was the most-streamed series on the platform globally, according to FlixPatrol.[74]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 65% approval rating based on 34 reviews.[75]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 66 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable".[76]
↑ 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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