Like many fans, I thought the MCU’s zombie universe was over once I saw Zombie Thanos flex his nearly completed Infinity Gauntlet. But nope! The universe is surprisingly still intact, as survivors struggle to survive five years after the finale of that “What If…?” episode, all the way back in season one. Not only that, but things drastically change after Kamala Khan (AKA-Ms. Marvel) discovers a way to potentially save the world. As she goes on her quest, she meets and gathers fellow heroes and villains—such as Blade and Red Guardian—to help her on a last-ditch effort to heal the planet.
A Deeper Dive Into the Story
Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this whole show, there will be MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! You have been warned.
Anyway, as previously mentioned, the events of “Marvel Zombies” take place five years after Spider-Man, Scott Lang’s head, the Cloak of Levitation, and Black Panther take the Mind Stone to Wakanda. Surprisingly, the show doesn’t immediately explain what happened afterwards at its beginning. Instead, we open up with Kate Bishop, Riri Williams, Kamala Khan, and a teddy-bear-headed Iron Man armor piloted by F.R.I.D.A.Y. As they struggle to survive, they make a gruesome discovery when a crashed Quinjet holds a zombie that is carrying a powerful but shrunken transmitter. Only problem? Something is keeping any transmissions from going out, so they need a spaceship. However, as the trio travels across the country, all but Kamala die at the hands of zombies. Luckily, Kamala was saved by Blade, who is the new Moon Knight (due to Marc being lost to the zombies).
The pair finally reaches a base inhabited by Natasha’s adopted family, where they discover that Wanda Maximoff is the Queen of the Dead. There is some good news, however, as they finally find a spaceship in New Asgard. But before they can act on this information, the base is quickly found and infiltrated by a zombie horde, including a zombified Okoye, Abomination, Ghost, and (half of) Captain America! Unfortunately, everyone except Natasha’s mother made it out, but still, the group presses on. Eventually, they would find themselves on board “the city on the sea,” AKA the old Raft prison, piloted by Baron Zemo and John Walker. As a happy surprise, they also meet up with Shang-Chi and his roadside warriors, who seek refuge from the zombie horde. However, this peace would not last long, as Zemo would attempt to feed the heroes to the underwater zombies, until they also infiltrate the base under the command of a zombified Namor.
This would ultimately lead to the noble self-sacrifice of Yelena, buying time for the survivors to escape. On the run once again, the whole group finally reaches New Asgard, where many Asgardians are gathered and partying without a care in the world. But that’s when two gut-wrenching plot twists strike us: Thor is a depressed ruler, and Wanda is supposedly normal and an ally of New Asgard. Just as quickly as she presents herself as friendly, she reveals she’s still a zombie and has infected all of New Asgard (along with Alexei)! Just when things look hopeless, Thor regains his fight and battles Wanda, once again buying time for whoever survived to fly away in their ship. But they would soon find out it was all for naught: the Nova Corps, the ones they’ve been trying to reach this whole time, believing they would save them, in reality wants nothing to do with them. Instead, they quarantined the whole planet and shot the heroes down.
In the finale, we finally get some answers about what happened to Spidey and his group. When they encounter and fight Zombie Thanos, Thor—alongside Rocket and Groot—join the fray, but Thanos kills Rocket and Groot while knocking out Thor. However, thanks to Thor’s weapon, the heroes were able to push back until Black Panther made the noble sacrifice to destroy Thanos and the Infinity Stones to save the universe. But the act comes with a great cost: the released energy from the stones not only cuts Earth off from the rest of the galaxy, but the immense power puts the planet in greater jeopardy. That’s when the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj interfered by sending Bruce Banner to absorb the power so no one could be harmed. They also rescued Spidey and Scott, but they’d also rescue Kamala and the others as they plummet back down to Earth.
Finally, we come to the last stand: Wanda and her zombie horde versus the surviving heroes. It was a long, brutal battle, especially when a zombified Thor squared up against Infinity Hulk. Unfortunately, though, the war was not in their favor. Most of the heroes would either die or get pressed into a corner, leaving Wanda able to start absorbing Infinity Hulk’s powers. Weirdly enough, though, Wanda also presses for Kamala to help her heal the world. Kamala would eventually give in, and it would seem the world is fixed, until reality starts glitching and Riri warns her that nothing she sees is real. And cruelly, this is where Marvel decides to end the story.
What I Liked
Oh. My. Gosh!!! This show was SO MUCH BETTER than I expected! Where do I even start with what I liked??? Perhaps a great start should be with the characters and their arcs. Take Kamala, for example. I absolutely hated her character in the “Ms. Marvel” TV show, but somehow, they actually made her better in “Marvel Zombies!” I absolutely loved watching her start to mature and bring a sense of lightheartedness to an otherwise horrifying and depressing world. I also love how she seems to serve as a symbol of hope for the weary group, especially Alexei, after he loses his wife and his daughter. It’s like Kamala became a third daughter to him, and it warmed my heart to see them grow so close, which is also why it destroyed me when Alexei became a zombie. I also love how Shang-Chi still maintained his old character from the main timeline, where he’s kinda isolated from most people but still wants to do the right thing. What further develops the arc is when Katie, the normally goofy and “meh, whatever, bro” kind of girl, actually matures and encourages Shang-Chi to help the other heroes. Finally, I love how Blade isn’t the cold-hearted, blood-sucking killer he’s usually depicted as. Instead, while he is a little standoffish, there’s still an aura of safety and calmness whenever he’s in the group. He doesn’t look or talk down on anyone; instead alerts everyone to the supernatural dangers, gives logical advice, and always does so in a calm but neutral voice.
As for the show itself, I must say that I overall liked how they formatted it. Yes, the show was only four episodes long (which I’ll get more into later), but none of them felt like they were only half an hour apiece. Instead, it felt more like I was watching four movies back to back, mainly because I was so invested in the action and the story that I all but lost all sense of time. Further, each episode has its own unique beginning that seemingly separates the episode from the previous one, while also balancing the tie-ins to the overall story. For instance, the first episode starts off with Kamala and her friends, and how they discover the transmitter. In the second episode, we get a flashback to the zombie outbreak with Shang-Chi and Katie. Eventually, they would meet up with Kamala’s group, but they didn’t rush the meetup and fleshed it out very well, given the short amount of time and episodes they had.
Moving on, I also love how they went all out with the gory violence! Usually, I stay away from things that get too dark, but for some reason, I couldn’t peel my eyes away from it. The action was so intense, which is fitting since they’re all in a zombie apocalypse, but there’s more to it than slicing and smushing zombies. For instance, consider the circumstances that force them to fight. The zombies number in the millions; they always find and corner our beloved characters, and with all of them pressing in at once, it becomes a battle of fear as well as survival. Further, the stakes become personal whenever friends and loved ones get caught in the crosshairs. Again, Kamala lost her best friends to the zombies. Alexei lost his wife in one episode, but he immediately lost his only living daughter in the next; it only gets worse. With each episode, they keep picking off members of the group one by one, and eventually even two by two, in the most gruesome ways. It hurts twice as much when zombified versions of the survivors’ close friends and family return in the finale to fight their respective counterparts: Jimmy and Death Dealer vs. Shang-Chi and Katie, Thor vs. Valkyrie, the Widow family against Kamala and Blade, etc.
Finally, what I loved the most is one thing I deeply admire in any form of story: the plot twists! And just like any story, “Marvel Zombies” had some amazing twists because it was able to lull me into a false sense of confidence. For example, consider when the heroes got to go on the Raft under Zemo’s protection. I knew he was a bad guy; I knew what he was capable of based on watching “Captain America: Civil War.” And yet, when I heard his seemingly heartfelt speech, combined with remembering how he had a code of sorts, it made me believe he truly was a good guy. But right when I finally believed it, Zemo pulls out the rug from under me by revealing he occasionally feeds his guests to the underwater zombies to keep them away, calling it his “dirty little secret.” The most amazing plot twist, though, came in the finale when the world was seemingly fixed. As mentioned previously, Kamala is relaxing and having boba with her friends, until the whole world glitches, and Riri warns Kamala that nothing she sees is real! This reveal bombards my brain with countless questions! What is Wanda up to? What happened to the Earth? Why is Kamala in a Matrix-like world? Where is this all going? Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a while before we get any form of closure for this ending.
What I Didn’t Like
Unfortunately, like every other amazing show or movie, there is always something that doesn’t sit right with the audience. For me, personally, one huge thing is actually something I just said I really liked: the show’s format. I went into this show fully expecting this to be a four-episode premiere, excited to reach the cliffhanger and anxiously wait for the next episodes to be released on Disney+. So imagine my disappointment when I found out that the four episodes were all I was gonna get!
However, I wasn’t upset merely because I wanted more zombie content, but it’s especially because the short length of this season causes many other problems for the overall narrative. For instance, while the episodes never felt truly rushed, some elements progress conveniently quicker the more you look at it. I mean, we start with a couple of kids traversing the wilderness, but then BOOM, we’re with Nat’s adopted family. BOOM, we’re at the Raft, BOOM, we’re at New Asgard, etc. With the limited number of episodes, I understand we need to get to important locations to further the story, but the frequent use of “fast travel” seems a bit too convenient and not very realistic. In addition to this, the short season only spells more problems for the characters. It’s not that any of their arcs or relationships were rushed per se, but I wish we had more time for them to be properly fleshed out. Take Shang-Chi, for example. When we meet up with him in the present day, he’s leading a “Mad Max-like” group and fighting a Skrull motorbike gang, solely focused on survival and not really wanting anything to do with the world. However, one short speech from Katie while they rest in the Raft, and he’s suddenly all in? Granted, being flushed out by zombies and forced to go with the surviving heroes didn’t give him much of a choice either, but it still feels too quick a character progression for my taste. Also, while the deaths of Jimmy and Death Dealer would drive his fight, you’d think that seeing those deaths, along with literally seeing their whole plan fall to pot, would only harden him more. Instead, he’s the one comforting Kamala and saying, “Yeah, we’re gonna fight and save the world!” Like, weren’t you just saying a week ago that you didn’t wanna fight? If the show were longer, I would’ve liked to see Shang-Chi struggle more with his moral compass: maybe Katie would still give the speech, but Shang-Chi wouldn’t accept it right away. As he’s forced to accompany the heroes for a while, he’d still reluctantly fight, while his concern would primarily rest with himself and his own group’s survival. Eventually, something would happen (either a death scene or maybe something would happen with Katie) that would soften his heart some more. I do admire how he was the one to comfort Kamala in the main story, but I still wish we had more time developing his character to truly make that moment feel like it was deserved.
Moving on, another problem I have with this show is a few plot holes that I’ve noticed. For example, when we get to New Asgard, we get the shocking reveal that Wanda has been the nation’s ally for a while at this point. She’s provided them with “food” and other needs to help them survive during the apocalypse, until it’s revealed she was feeding them zombie parts to turn them into zombies themselves. But here’s the thing: Valkyrie literally said that they don’t concern themselves with the affairs of mortals. Heck, she wouldn’t have even let the heroes inside if Khonshu didn’t put in a good word for them. So how on Earth did Wanda secure an alliance with Valkyrie? Wanda is, after all, a mortal. How was she trusted so quickly? And I don’t know how health inspections work with Asgardians, but how come Valkyrie just accepted the food Wanda provided without checking it, or at least hesitating about it first? Moves like this really make you wonder how Asgard was such a mighty race for thousands of years. Anyway, another problem I have is when we reach the Nova Corps. During that whole encounter, I kept wondering how they were even there. If events in this world followed the same path that the main timeline did, then they should’ve all been destroyed when Thanos stole the Power Stone from them. And yet, here they are: still a recognized, formidable galactic police force and seemingly unaffected by Thanos’ actions. For this next issue, it’s more of a question that I’m sure many fans have had circling in their minds while watching this: where the heck is Bucky? In the “What If…?” episode, we don’t get a confirmed death or zombification. Instead, Zombie Wanda just yeets him into the air, and he skyrockets out of view. After that, we never hear from the Winter Soldier again, not even a name drop. First of all, if “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is any indication, Bucky doesn’t die easily from a great fall. Further, being the Winter Soldier, he’d tear through zombie after zombie and find a way to regroup with the others. Also, even if he did die from the impact or got zombified, I’m positive that at least one of the characters would’ve mentioned it. After all, we got to see that Bruce Banner really did survive his encounter with Wanda and got chosen to hold the energy from the Infinity Stones, so why don’t we get an update about Bucky? But both of these plot holes pale in comparison to one that I find the most curious: how did Zombie Wanda make it back to her reality? This is because, in the season one finale of “What If…?,” we see Strange Supreme dump a bunch of the zombies—including Wanda—onto Infinity Ultron, who then blew them all up. So how did Wanda not only survive an encounter with one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, but also regain her intelligence and make it back to her world? Either she’s just as powerful as her main universe counterpart, or the writers skipped over the details for the sake of convenience.
Finally, the last concern I hold is with the ending itself. Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing ending! Like I said before, it left me on a cruel but awesome cliffhanger, filling my brain with limitless questions. However, said questions are partly why I also hate the ending. In other words, they don’t fully explain everything for the ending to make sense. For example, it’s clear that Wanda wanted Kamala and her powers, but then she goes after Infinity Hulk and his powers. So, if the power of the Stones could turn half the universe into dust, then why does she even need Kamala’s powers? Also, we still don’t get how Wanda wanted to “heal the world,” because the zombie world is still there, but she hides it with essentially a Matrix world. Like…why? What was the idea behind this? She literally absorbed the powers of the Infinity Stones AND Kamala’s powers (which are tied to a dimension that could destabilize our reality by the way), so why not just use that power to change everyone back? Or, if she’s still a zombie villain, why not use it to turn the whole universe into zombies? And if she did, why does she feel the need to hide it with a false reality? If everyone’s a zombie, who is she trying to hide it from? She can’t be trying to hide it from the Nova Corps, because with the insane levels of cosmic power she holds, she wouldn’t even need to concern herself about them. Last but not least, why spare Kamala? Why make her live in a false reality with zombies underneath the illusion? As if this wasn’t enough of a headache, why is Riri not only the one who warns Kamala but is also alive and well, despite supposedly dying at the hands of zombies? Again, the ending is awesome because of these questions, but the more you think about it, the more convoluted it now looks.
Conclusion
In spite of the cons I just listed, I still believe this show was one of the best things I’ve seen from Marvel in a long time! I only wish they had made more episodes and fine-tuned the plot and characters a little better, but it didn’t ruin my overall experience. I kept screaming, laughing, and crying the whole way through and I’d definitley watch this show 100 more times if I decided to. All I can say at this point is that I hope they make a second season soon, because I’m pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say that we have SO MANY questions that need to be answered ASAP!
