Marvel Zombies (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series was originally scheduled to premiere on October 3, 2025, before being moved up to September 24.
• Marvel Zombies was delayed to 2025 to prevent its ratings from negatively impacting those of another Marvel miniseries, Agatha All Along, which was already scheduled for release around Halloween 2024.

Cast and characters

Iman Vellani portrays Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, a teenage mutant from Jersey City who uses a magical bangle to harness cosmic energy and create hard light constructs; the creators described her role as "the Frodo of the story." Dominique Thorne plays Riri Williams / Ironheart, a former MIT student and genius inventor from Chicago who built a suit of armor rivaling Tony Stark's. Hailee Steinfeld appears as Kate Bishop, a young woman trained as a master archer after being saved by Clint Barton.

Kerry Condon voices F.R.I.D.A.Y., an artificial intelligence created by Stark. Kenna Ramsey plays Okoye, a zombie and former general of the Dora Milaje. Todd Williams portrays Blade Knight, a half-vampire daywalker who hunts vampires and has become the avatar of Khonshu, Moon Knight. Kari Wahlgren voices Melina Vostokoff, a seasoned spy and scientist trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow.

Florence Pugh appears as Yelena Belova, a highly skilled spy and assassin trained in the Red Room. David Harbour plays Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, the Soviet super soldier counterpart to Captain America. Simu Liu portrays Xu Shang-Chi, a highly skilled martial artist who was bitten by a zombie on his right arm and uses the mystical Ten Rings to prevent the infection from spreading. Awkwafina plays Katy Chen, Shang-Chi's best friend who wields the Ten Rings alongside him.

Randall Park appears as Jimmy Woo, a former FBI agent. Feodor Chin portrays Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi's father and leader of the Ten Rings organization. Wyatt Russell plays John Walker, a former captain of the U.S. Army Rangers. Rama Vallury appears as Helmut Zemo, a Sokovian baron and terrorist.

Elizabeth Olsen portrays Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch / Red Queen / Queen of the Dead, a former Avenger turned zombie with chaos magic. Hudson Thames plays Peter Parker / Spider-Man, a young man with spider-like abilities.

Production

Marvel Zombies is an adult animated series from Marvel Studios Animation, created by Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells, and released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025. It is the 16th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a spin-off of What If...?, continuing the alternate timeline from that show’s first season episode “What If... Zombies?!” (2021). The story follows a group of survivors who risk their lives fighting superpowered zombies to save the world. Andrews served as showrunner and director, with Wells as head writer. The series consists of four episodes and is part of Phase Six of the MCU. It received generally positive reviews from critics, and a second season is in production.

The premise picks up five years after the What If...? episode, where a virus turned most of the world, including the Avengers, into zombies. The survivors discover a key to ending the plague and must travel across a dystopian landscape. The cast includes Iman Vellani, Dominique Thorne, Hailee Steinfeld, Kerry Condon, Kenna Ramsey, Todd Williams, Kari Wahlgren, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Randall Park, Feodor Chin, Wyatt Russell, Rama Vallury, Elizabeth Olsen, Hudson Thames, Paul Rudd, Greg Furman, Adam Hugill, Daniel Swain, Sheila Atim, Tessa Thompson, F. Murray Abraham, and Zenobia Shroff. The animation style matches What If...?, with Stellar Creative Lab returning. It is Marvel Studios Animation’s first series to be rated TV-MA.

Marketing

Marvel Zombies first surfaced at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con during a Marvel Studios Animation panel, where character artwork was unveiled. Two years later, at the D23 convention in August 2024, Bryan Andrews and Brad Winderbaum promoted the series with footage that drew comparisons to the Mad Max films from Germain Lussier of Gizmodo and Ray Flook of Bleeding Cool. Additional clips appeared in a Disney+ video from October 2024 outlining Marvel Television and Animation projects through 2025, and more footage was shown in a May 2025 sizzle reel at Disney’s upfront presentation.

The official trailer dropped on September 2, 2025, set to the song “From Me to U” by Babymetal and Poppy. The Hollywood Reporter noted it was the second-biggest trailer launch for a Marvel Studios Animation series, trailing only X-Men ’97, with Blade Knight generating the most social media buzz. Priya Prakash of Indiatimes pointed to moments like Spider-Man using webs to decapitate zombies and Blade Knight slicing a zombie Ghost with his sword, calling them evidence of how far Marvel is willing to push the envelope.

Reception

According to streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, Marvel Zombies became the most-streamed series on Disney+ in over 30 countries after its debut, outperforming Grey's Anatomy, High Potential, and Alien: Earth. In the U.S., it held the top spot on Disney+ for its first three days, marking one of Marvel Studios Animation's strongest launches. TVision, which measures viewer engagement across over 1,000 connected TV apps, ranked it as the third most-streamed show in the U.S. from September 22 to 28.

By September 29, it was the second most-watched title on Disney+ in the U.S., behind Elio. On October 6, FlixPatrol reported it was the most-streamed series globally on the platform. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 66% approval rating from 35 reviews, with the critics' consensus noting it is "diverting enough to satisfy MCU fans, and wickedly cruel enough to entice horror aficionados," adding that its entertainment value compensates for a lack of originality. Metacritic gave it a weighted score of 66 out of 100 from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.