What is attractive about Marvel Zombies to viewers?

Superheroes saving the world is nothing new. But superheroes eating the world? That's where "Marvel Zombies" comes in.

 

What started as a crazy comic book experiment in 2005 has become one of the most infamous storylines in the Marvel universe, turning beloved heroes like Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man into bloodthirsty monsters. It's gruesome, morbidly funny, and strangely tragic. Now, nearly two decades later, the MCU has given the immortal Avengers their own series.

 

For many Marvel fans, their first taste of a Marvel zombie apocalypse was in "What If.?" Part 1, where Episode 5 reimagined the sprawling cinematic universe in zombie form. And the director didn't hold back, as fan favorites like Bucky, Falcon, and Iron Man were all killed off in unexpected ways.

And now, in 2025, Marvel Zombies arrives as a four-part animated series, expanding the dark, desolate universe revealed in 'What If…?'. The series combines survivors and new undead threats, promising intense battles, shocking deaths, and a strange, alternate-world narrative that only animation can convey. Whether you've been following the comics since the beginning or are just curious after watching 'What If…?', here's everything you need to know about whether or not you should watch Marvel Zombies.

 

Origin of Marvel Zombies

The idea of ​​Marvel 's greatest superheroes  turning into bloodthirsty monsters began in 2005 with "Marvel Zombies," a five-issue limited comic series written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Sean Phillips.

The story is set in a parallel universe, Earth-2149, where a mysterious virus has infected Earth's mightiest superheroes. In a matter of hours, the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four have fallen. However, remarkably, these zombies still retain their intelligence, memories, and powers. That makes them much more dangerous than mindless corpses. Spider-Man still spins webs around New York… but he's hunting for his next meal. Captain America still leads a team… only now they're a cannibal pack.

The comics don't shy away from shocking imagery and bizarre humor. Zombie Hulk devours Galactus, only to have the zombies gain cosmic powers. Zombie Spider-Man wrestles with guilt after eating Mary Jane and Aunt May. Iron Man, headless but still conscious, continues to function thanks to his armor. It's brutal, horrifying, and imaginative, exactly the kind of bold experimentation Marvel rarely used at the time.

 

The popularity of the first series led to numerous sequels and spin-offs:

1. Marvel Zombies 2 (2007) : Set 40 years later, the original infected heroes return to Earth after devouring much of the known universe.
2. Marvel Zombies 3 (2008) & 4 (2009) : Shifts the focus back to Earth-616 (Marvel's main universe), with characters like Morbius and Machine Man confronting the zombie outbreak.
3. Marvel Zombies Return (2009) : A five-part miniseries built as an anthology, with different creative teams showing how the epidemic spreads across parallel realities.
4. Later Appearances: Zombies have appeared in major Marvel crossovers, including "Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness" (where Ash from Evil Dead faces off against the undead Avengers) and tie-in episodes of "Secret Wars" (2015), where zombies appear as one of Battleworld's most terrifying entities.

By the mid-2010s, Marvel Zombies had become one of Marvel's longest-running parallel universes, influencing games, merchandising, and fan culture. The series struck a balance between horror and satire, often poking fun at Marvel's own tropes but also featuring plenty of gore.

 

Characters appearing in Marvel Zombies

Marvel Zombies includes a powerful roster of heroes and villains, some alive, some completely undead.

The surviving characters include:

1. Kate Bishop/Hawkeye
2. Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel
3. Riri Williams/Ironheart
4. Yelena Belova
5. Shang-Chi
6. Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian
7. Melina Vostokov
8. Death Dealer
9. Jimmy Woo
10. Eric Brooks/Blade Knight
11. Katy Chen
12. Baron Zemo
13. Peter Parker/Spider-Man
14. T'Challa/Black Panther
15. Thor
16. Scott Lang/Ant-Man
17. Ikaris
18. Valkyrie

The zombies include:

1. Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
2. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
3. Ava Starr/Ghost
   Emil Blonsky/Abomination
4. Clint Barton/Hawkeye
5. Steve Rogers/Captain America
6. Okoye
7. Namor
8. Thanos
9. Namor
10. Hope Pym/Wasp

This is a combination of the MCU's favorite new characters and classic Avengers, promising to create fierce clashes between humans and zombies.

Who survives at the end of "Marvel Zombies"?

Over the course of four bloody episodes, the body count mounts until nearly every hero, veteran and new, is either fallen, torn apart, zombified, or sacrificed in vain. Kate Bishop, Riri Williams, Shang-Chi, Yelena, Valkyrie, Blade, and even Thor; none of them make it.

By the finale, Kamala Khan is the last one left standing, though even 'surviving' is a slippery word. She doesn't win. Instead, she surrenders to Wanda's vision of merging their powers, reshaping reality into something brighter and falsely safe. Kamala Khan is still alive, yes, but trapped in an illusion that may not really be hers.