★★★☆☆
With Halloween right around the corner, Marvel Studios released Marvel Zombies on September Wednesday. The limited series follows newer characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as they navigate a zombie apocalypse.
The catch? Some of your favorite Marvel characters are probably already zombies.
Marvel Zombies does a great job of using animation to tell a typical zombie apocalypse story, with superheroes sprinkled throughout. Marvel fans will be impressed with the show’s mature direction, while more casual viewers might want to sit this one out.
The series picks up directly after an episode of What If…?, specifically Season 1, Episode 5 titled “What If…Zombies?!” The show is not canon to the regular MCU, but it takes place in an alternate timeline.
By the start of the show, all of the legacy MCU heroes are already zombified or dead—don’t expect Iron Man, Captain America, or the Hulk to be wandering around alive in the apocalypse. Instead, Marvel Zombies stars Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and a cast of newer Marvel characters, like Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu).
The group is on a mission to find a cure, but is constantly thwarted by the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who has become the zombie queen after being bitten. As more heroes fall to the zombie virus, they fall under the control of the Scarlet Witch as she manipulates their actions. She’ll do anything to stop the living heroes from finding a cure.
Marvel Zombies stands out from your typical apocalypse story because the types of zombies that our heroes are facing are other heroes. If the Avengers were only fighting regular zombies, then the apocalypse would have never stood a chance. The main characters take on zombified characters from all across the MCU, from a zombified Namor to a zombified Abomination.
Animation was the perfect format for Marvel Zombies, giving the show room to embrace its zombie concept and realistically depict Marvel heroes as zombies. The show has a comic book feel to its animation, and a live-action budget would have limited the characters and sets at the show’s disposal.
The biggest benefit of animation, though, is the fight scene quality.
One fight that stands out in particular is between a zombified Captain Marvel and Ikaris. Captain Marvel is arguably the most powerful hero in the MCU, but Ikaris can give her a run for her money. Ikaris is also made of an inorganic material, so he can’t succumb to the zombie virus. As Ms. Marvel and crew find themselves in the midst of this battle, Captain Marvel and Ikaris are shooting energy beams, throwing together combo attacks, and absolutely destroying the mountainous scene around them, all in detailed and meticulous animation.
On the downside, the animation does hold the show back from ever being truly scary. Still, the series lets loose on guts and gore as brains are constantly bashed on screen. The violence doesn’t serve the plot, but it makes for epic and gruesome moments.
As for the plot itself, there are times when the story feels repetitive and falls into the clichés of zombie fiction. The group feels safe at one location, unexpectedly gets attacked by a horde of zombies, and some critical members of the team are lost before the rest of the group narrowly escapes—exactly how most viewers would expect a zombie story to unfold.
Marvel Zombies also explores themes of loss, grief, and morality, all of which are typical for an apocalypse story. If there weren’t superheroes involved, the story’s plot points wouldn’t be too far from those in the first season of The Walking Dead.
While its plot and themes aren’t strong enough to stand on their own, Marvel Zombies is unique in how it utilizes the effects of animation in tandem with superhero spectacle to create a solid viewing experience.
