Marvel Showrunner Talks Balancing Blood and Plot in the Upcoming TV-MA MCU Series

Marvel is about to take things to a much darker place with its upcoming animated series Marvel Zombies. Based on the hit Marvel Comics series, the show will arrive on Disney+ on October 3, 2025, and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen from the MCU so far.

The series is a spin-off from the What If…? episode “What If… Zombies?!” and will follow a group of survivors as they fight off zombified versions of Marvel’s biggest heroes and villains. Expect to see the terrifying zombie Scarlet Witch, a grotesque undead Captain America, and even Okoye returning from the grave to battle what’s left of humanity.

Showrunner and director Bryan Andrews told Collider that Marvel boss Kevin Feige was behind the idea from the start. “I think Kevin always knew because it was Kevin that really pushed for doing something with the zombies just regardless,” Andrews said. After the zombie episode of What If…? was a hit, Feige and the team quickly decided to make it its own project.

Instead of an anthology like What If…?, this will be one connected story across four episodes. Andrews explained, “Originally, we were thinking it’d be a movie… but we had to break it up into four episodes. So basically it’s like a film broken up into four parts. It’s one story. A lot of insanity happens.”

The series will be rated TV-MA, making it Marvel Studios Animation’s first project aimed at adults. That rating comes mainly from the violence and intensity, not language.

“There’s a tiny bit of language, a little bit, I think, but because Marvel at times, even with the R, they didn’t do this with Deadpool and Wolverine, obviously. But back in the day, this was… we were making this. It was before, I mean, that wasn’t even out yet. And so yeah, they were like, ‘Yeah, we don’t have to have people saying certain things.’ So we did try not to be gratuitous about it, but there’s like, a couple key parts where someone does say something because it just fits. Like that’s what I would say in that moment. So, I think the rating comes from the level of violence and or intensity of the moments that the characters find themselves in. And yeah, blood gets spilled, and we want to be able to see that.”

Fans can still expect plenty of bloody zombie action, but Andrews stressed that the gore won’t be there just for shock value. “It’s not about providing just a tremendous amount of gore… there is some gore, but it isn’t about just the gore. It’s about character-driven emotion, people dealing with stuff.”

The voice cast is stacked, featuring Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, and Iman Vellani, along with Todd Williams. Many are reprising their MCU roles, but with a gruesome undead twist.

Fans should also brace for surprises. While Funko has already revealed zombie Captain America, Hawkeye, and a new Blade Knight, Andrews hinted there are still secret characters that haven’t been teased. “I would hope that they haven’t mentioned a couple of things that we do want to be an honest surprise… we hope there are some surprises still left so you can see the episode and go, ‘What?!’”

With just four episodes, Marvel Zombies promises a short but intense ride. Between the gore, the high stakes, and the shocking twists, this isn’t one for the kids. As Andrews puts it, it’s a mix of chaos, horror, and the kind of emotional storytelling that makes you care about who survives… and who doesn’t.

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