Marvel Zombies - First episode

The arrival of zombies generally doesn't bode well for humanity. In Marvel Zombies, however, some of those zombies even have superpowers. Fortunately, there are still some living heroes left, but whether that's enough... In 2005, Robert Kirkman (also known as the man behind The Walking Dead, among other movies) brought zombies to Marvel comics in the five-part comic series Marvel Zombies. This proved to be a huge success, and after a prequel and several sequels (all comics), Marvel zombies made the jump to the small screen in the fifth installment of Marvel's What If…?

Prior knowledge of the comics to watch Marvel Zombies is completely unnecessary, as this series follows on from what happened in episode five of Marvel's What If…? and therefore follows a completely different storyline than the comics.



In the first episode of Marvel Zombies, we see the younger generation of heroes reunite. Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld, the second Marvel's Hawkeye), Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani, Ms. Marvel), and Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne, Ironheart) come into possession of a piece of technology in a largely abandoned city that could prove crucial in the fight against the zombies.

Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems, and it's crucial to figure out exactly what to do with this piece of technology. It's up to the women to find one of the few SHIELD bases still operational and continue their work from there.

As we've come to expect from Marvel's What If…?, Marvel Zombies uses as many of the original actors/actresses as possible for voice acting.

Fortunately, it turns out there are more heroes alive who can help in the fight against the zombies. We encounter the Red Guardian (David Harbour) and (the second) Black Widow (Florence Pugh), and Blade makes his appearance. What I found particularly striking about Blade is that, besides not being entirely the traditional Blade, his appearance is clearly based on Mahershala Ali's, but he isn't the voice actor for the character, and the film in which he was supposed to play Blade has also been postponed until further notice.

Besides the necessary living heroes, there are also plenty of superheroes who have become zombies and are now terrorizing the planet, so confrontations ensue. Unlike many zombie stories, however, the zombies here aren't constantly wandering aimlessly, which makes everything feel a bit more interesting.



I really enjoyed the first episode of Marvel Zombies. The story developed interestingly from What If…? and even leaned a bit more towards the comics, as some zombies seem to have more intelligence and can talk.

As we've come to expect from Marvel's What If…?, Marvel Zombies uses the original actors/actresses as voice actors as much as possible. And I always appreciate that connection to the MCU. It allows for the chemistry the actors already had together in the MCU to be built upon, and certain running gags from the films can be carried over into the series.

A great first episode, with an interesting story, excellent voice acting, and plenty of action and humor. Reason enough for me to quickly continue watching the remaining three episodes!