‘Marvel Zombies’: Latest Updates and Everything We Know Before Its Release

Marvel Zombies is an upcoming animated miniseries on Disney+, created by Zeb Wells and produced by Marvel Studios Animation. Set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series takes place in an alternate timeline inspired by the What If…? episode “What If… Zombies?!” and follows a group of survivors battling heroes and villains who have turned into zombies.

Bryan Andrews serves as showrunner and director, with Wells as head writer. The series boasts a star-studded cast including Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, Iman Vellani, and Todd Williams, many of whom are reprising their MCU roles. Recently, the showrunners shared new details about the series, so here’s what we know so far.

1. The series was initially imagined as a film

Unlike What If…?, Marvel Zombies will follow a single, continuous storyline rather than jumping between different tales. The series, originally planned as a standalone zombie movie, retains that cinematic feel across its four episodes. Showrunner Bryan Andrews described it as “one story. It’s one throughline. A lot of insanity happens.”

He added, “Originally, we thought about releasing it as a movie, but due to certain issues, we decided to break it up into four episodes.”

2. It will be the first Marvel animated series on Disney+ to receive a TV-MA rating.

Zeb Wells wrote the scripts for Marvel Zombies based on stories he developed with Bryan Andrews. The series is “pretty intense,” featuring violence on par with the comics, which contributes to its TV-MA rating and allows for a more hardcore approach.

Andrews explained that the show blends humor, action, violence, drama, and emotion, creating a story that goes beyond a typical zombie narrative. Profanity is used sparingly, with the mature rating mainly reflecting the combination of intense violence and emotional moments.

“I think the rating comes from the level of violence and the intensity of the situations the characters face. And yeah, blood gets spilled, and we want to be able to show that,” Andrews told Collider.

3. The series features an exceptionally large cast.

The series stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, a martial artist trained as an assassin who now uses the mystical Ten Rings to contain a zombie infection. Awkwafina plays his best friend, Katy, while David Harbour portrays Alexei Shostakov, the Red Guardian, a Russian super-soldier and father figure to Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, a highly skilled spy trained in the Red Room. Elizabeth Olsen appears as a zombified Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, wielding chaos magic and reality-altering powers. Randall Park returns as former FBI agent Jimmy Woo, and Hailee Steinfeld plays Kate Bishop, a young archer trained by Clint Barton.

Other cast members include Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart, a genius inventor with her own suit of armor, and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, a central character who can harness cosmic energy. Hudson Thames reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, while Todd Williams appears in an unspecified role. The series also features survivors like Death Dealer, Blade Knight (a fusion of Blade and Moon Knight), and Xu Wenwu, alongside several zombified heroes, including Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers, Emil Blonsky, Ava Starr, Ikaris, and Okoye.

4. The series will focus on character-driven storytelling and emotional depth

The creators stressed that while the miniseries features zombie violence and gore, it isn’t excessive or gratuitous. The emphasis is on character-driven storytelling and emotional arcs, with blood and gore used sparingly so they don’t overshadow the narrative. Violence occurs naturally in the zombie-apocalypse setting, but it serves the story rather than existing purely for shock value.

“Character-driven, emotional, people dealing with stuff—that’s what it’s really about,” they explained. “Sure, when something happens, it’s like, ‘Oh, I just got ripped apart.’ But then we move on. It’s not about, ‘Look at all the crazy things we’re doing!’ Often, an MA rating is used just for spectacle, but here it’s to allow us to tell the story fully without being gratuitous.”

5. Rumor has it that Scarlet Witch will serve as the main villain

In the series, Wanda takes on the role of the Dead Queen, commanding hordes of undead with her chaos magic and relentless hunger. She has already shown her power by surviving a battle with the Hulk, who will also appear in the show. Okoye, the Wakandan warrior, acts as a secondary villain, leading an undead army under the Dead Queen’s control.

6. Set to premiere on September 24

The series is scheduled to debut on Disney+ on September 24, 2025, as part of Phase Six of the MCU. It will feature four episodes, released weekly.

Have any thoughts or predictions? Share them in the comments!