The first official synopsis for Marvel Studios Animation‘s Marvel Zombies has been revealed. The series is set in the alternate timeline introduced in the 2021 What If…? episode, “What If… Zombies?!,” and follows a group of survivors battling against former heroes and villains who have been turned into zombies. Premiere on Disney+ on September 24.
Official synopsis:
“After the Avengers are overtaken by a zombie plague, a desperate group of survivors discover the key to bringing an end to the super-powered undead, racing across a dystopian landscape and risking life and limb to save their world.”
The What If… Zombies?! episode, directed by Bryan Andrews and written by Matthew Chauncy, reimagined events from Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War as a zombie apocalypse. Unlike What If…?, which is an anthology, Marvel Zombies will tell one continuous story. Andrews originally envisioned it as a single movie, but it was divided into four episodes due to production factors.
Speaking to Collider, Andrews said, “It’s like a throughline. Originally, we were thinking it would be a movie, like, ‘Ooh, we should release it as a movie. We should just do a movie.’ But then some things came up—certain issues—so we had to break it into four episodes. Basically, it’s a four-episode mini-event, like a film broken up into four parts. So yeah, it’s definitely one story, one throughline. A lot of insanity happens.”
The cast of Marvel Zombies includes Awkwafina as Katy, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, Todd Williams, and Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, along with survivors Death Dealer, Blade Knight, and Xu Wenwu, as well as zombie versions of Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Steve Rogers / Captain America, Emil Blonsky / Abomination, Ava Starr / Ghost, Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Ikaris, and Okoye.
As one of Marvel’s rare TV-MA projects, Marvel Zombies won’t be one to watch with kids, featuring blood, gore, and the brutal deaths of beloved heroes. The mature rating comes less from language and more from the violence and intensity, with swearing used sparingly and only when it feels natural. Andrews explained that the goal was to avoid gratuitous adult content, instead focusing on graphic violence, disturbing moments, and deeper character drama. Developed before Marvel’s R-rated ventures like Deadpool & Wolverine, the series takes a darker, more purposeful approach to maturity.
Andrews said, “There’s a tiny bit of language, a little bit, I think. But because Marvel, even with the R rating, didn’t do this with Deadpool and Wolverine, obviously… back in the day when we were making this—it was before that was even out—they said, ‘Yeah, we don’t have to have people saying certain things.’ So we tried not to be gratuitous about it. But there are a couple of key parts where someone does say something, because it just fits—that’s what I would say in that moment. I think the rating comes from the level of violence and the intensity of the situations the characters find themselves in. And yeah, blood gets spilled, and we want to be able to see that.”
Andrews directs from a screenplay by Zeb Wells. Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Zeb Wells, and Andrews, with Danielle Costa and Carrie Wassenaar producing.
The four-episode animated series Marvel Zombies, rated TV-MA, will premiere on Disney+ on September 24, 2025.
Source: Collider
