Back in 2024, Disney announced the next animated project linked to the Marvel What If…? universe at D23. Visitors were shocked to see the family-friendly entertainment company adapting the gruesome world of Marvel Zombies. With Halloween being a month away, Marvel released a new trailer, showing who’s facing the zombie-infected heroes and the amount of uncensored gore.
Recapping Marvel What If…? “Zombies” Episode
In the original Marvel What If…? episode, Dr. Hank Pym attempted to rescue his wife, Janet Van Dyne, from the Quantum Realm. Within 30 years, she’s infected by a quantum virus. When they returned to their lab, their daughter Hope Van Dyne (Wasp) escaped from their ferocious bite while Scott Lang (Ant-Man) was devoured. Within 24 hours, the Pacific Northwest became overrun with zombies along with the Avengers.
Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk) from another Marvel Earth discovered and learn about the quantum infection when he tried to warn about Thanos. He joins Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier), Sharon Carter, Okoye, Happy Hogan, Kurt Goreshter, Doctor Strange’s Cape, and Hope to find an acclaimed cure in Camp Lehigh. The group’s numbers began to dwindle as each one succumbed to the virus.
Ironically, Hope too gets infected after entering the undead Sharon’s mouth. She sacrifices herself to carry the remaining heroes to Camp Lehigh. Bucky notices that the zombies aren’t climbing the fence. It turns out that Vision sent a beacon to Peter and company. He explains that the Mind Stone on his forehead kept him safe in Marvel Zombies. It emits an averted sub-frequency into the brain’s limbic system, the area that sends behavior and emotional signals.
Vision experimented to see if the Mind Stone could reverse the quantum virus’s infection. It works to an extent, as the plot reveals that Scott was rescued. However, only his head remained intact. Things turned for the worse when Bucky discovered that T’Challa (Black Panther) is alive, with his right calf severed. They revealed Vision’s true intentions of luring survivors to feed his infected wife, Wanda Django Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch).
Unlike Scott, her powers resisted the treatment. Wanda then wreaks havoc on the surviving heroes when she senses Okoye about to attack her android husband. Because of her truthful words, Vision decides to sacrifice himself by removing the Mind Stone from his body, as he could not bear leaving Wanda and his guilt. The episode ends with Peter, Scott, and T’Challa as the remaining survivors.
Who’s Facing the Quantum Virus Plague?
At D23 2024, Disney and Marvel Entertainment announced they will continue the episode in their new series, Marvel Zombies. The heroes who have died during the episode have returned with an aggressive appetite. Fans have been analyzing the Marvel Zombies 2025 trailer since its release on Sept. 2nd. The selected scenes presented additional survivors, including a new variant of Marvel’s dhampire, Blade.
The trailer’s end presented the vampire slayer in a showdown against the undead Ghost from the Thunderbolts*. Intel shared that this version is mixed with Moon Knight, which explains his white-and-black armor. Marvel What If…? enthusiasts have called him Blade Knight.
Speaking of the Thunderbolts*, Yelena Belova and Red Guardian are shown to be alive. Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) joins them and Blade, alongside Peter Parker, Scott Lang, and T’Challa. Shang-Chi and his sidekick, Katy Chen, are also making a return in Marvel for this horror mini-series.
Disney Decides to Not Censor The Gore
While Marvel Zombies is not the first TV-MA show for Disney+, it kept its promise to be. The Marvel What If…? episode contains massive censorship using off-screen deaths and fog. The undead Falcon and the subway zombies were the only deaths seen.
Marvel Zombies’ final trailer has come front and center about its TV rating. Many characters and zombies get slaughtered on screen in various ways. Aside from Blade Knight’s swordsman duel, Spider-Man fans were shocked to see him get a kill. In one scene, Peter pulls multiple zombie heads with his webstrings. Other scenes hint at the exploration of each Avenger’s death or infection. Marvel Zombies is set to premiere four episodes on Sept. 24th on Disney+.
