Marvel’s What If…? — Episode 5: Zombies 🧟‍♂️

“Earth’s Mightiest Heroes… turned Earth’s Deadliest Predators.”

Yes this is a re-upload of a 2021 episode, but i thought it be fitting to repost this since the new spinoff or continuation called Marvel Zombies has just aired today.

Let’s start by showing y’all the opening scene of this episode so y’all can get an idea of what this episode was like, shall we?

Non-Spoiler Plot Rundown

So this one kicks off with a familiar scene: Bruce Banner crash-landing back to Earth, just like in Infinity War. Only this time, instead of Thanos’ forces preparing for invasion, Bruce finds… silence. An empty city. No Avengers. No crowd. Just eerie quiet. Then Thanos’ Black Order arrives — and for a second it feels like déjà vu — until Iron Man and Doctor Strange show up through a portal and rip them apart. Problem solved, right?

Wrong.

Because these aren’t our Avengers. They’re zombies. 🧟‍♀️

Bruce is seconds away from being ripped apart when the unexpected rescue team shows up: Hope Van Dyne (Wasp), Okoye, Spider-Man, and even Doctor Strange’s cloak (yes, the cape has more personality than half the MCU). They bring him back to their hideout where the last handful of survivors explain how it all began: Hank Pym went into the Quantum Realm to rescue Janet, but she was carrying a quantum virus. She infected him, he infected the world, and the Avengers who tried to stop it? All turned.

From there it’s survival mode. The heroes need to reach Vision, who they think can help — but standing in their way are hordes of infected, including zombified versions of Earth’s greatest protectors.

This is What If…? at its most brutal. It’s violent, gory, and honestly shocking this was rated PG.


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A Little History 🧾

Marvel Zombies isn’t new. The idea first popped up in 2005 in Ultimate Fantastic Four, written by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman. That series became infamous for showing what happens when superpowers mix with a flesh-eating virus. The comics were wildly darker than the MCU could ever be, but this episode captures that same sense of dread — while adding its own MCU twist.

And guess what? Marvel Zombies are officially getting their own 4-part series on September 24th, 2025 — TV-MA. Finally, Marvel is ready to go full horror. Here’s the poster 👇

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Character Rundown 🎭

Bruce Banner / Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — the unlucky guy who walks into hell. More observer than fighter, but he anchors us in this chaos.

Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voiced by Hudson Thames) — the emotional core of the survivors. He cracks jokes, but beneath it is pure trauma.

Hope Van Dyne / Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) — fierce, driven, and carries the team on her back. Plays a huge role in their survival (and downfall).

Okoye (Danai Gurira) — loyal to the very end, slicing through undead with precision.

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) — stoic, battle-hardened, but still carrying hope.

Vision (Paul Bettany) — seemingly the savior… until we realize his own dark choices.

Scott Lang / Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) — literally just a head in a jar, cracking dad jokes while floating on Strange’s cape. Comic relief in the middle of a nightmare.

T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman, RIP) — brought in late, but his presence is powerful and tragic.

The Zombies 🧟‍♀️

Iron Man — ravenous, terrifying in the opening.

Doctor Strange — still wielding magic, only now it’s corrupted.

Wong — follows suit, using portals like death traps.

Captain America — shield and all, one of the most shocking fights.

Falcon — torn in half by Okoye (savagely).

Scarlet Witch — the most terrifying of them all, fully unleashed.

Hawkeye — bow still deadly, only now aimed at survivors.

And… Thanos — revealed at the very end, gauntlet nearly complete.



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Pros ✅

A brutal, fun twist on the MCU formula.

Zombie Avengers retaining their powers = nightmare fuel.

Clever use of the Quantum Realm as the virus’ origin — creepy and smart.

The survivors actually feel vulnerable — death hits hard here.

Visually shocking for PG animation — almost Marvel’s version of R-rated gore.

Also this single handly in 2020 gave some life into the zombie genre in my opinion.


Cons ❌

Rushed deaths: A few major characters get taken out almost instantly, which undercuts the weight of their fall. The pacing sometimes feels like “cameo → death” instead of meaningful arcs.

Tone whiplash: The mix of quippy humor (Scott’s floating head cracking dad jokes) with genuinely disturbing imagery (Vision feeding T’Challa to Wanda) is jarring. For some viewers, it undercuts the horror instead of balancing it.

Vision’s morals flip too fast: The guy has zero issue harvesting T’Challa’s leg for what feels like months, keeping Wanda alive by feeding her survivors. But the second Spidey and the gang show up? Suddenly he’s like “oh, you’re right, I’m insane” and sacrifices himself. It makes his heel turn feel unearned and rushed.

Iron Man’s infection makes no sense: He’s in full armor. Unless he randomly took the helmet off at the worst possible time, there’s no way a random zombie should’ve gotten through. It’s a moment where the show clearly wanted the cool visual of Zombie Tony, but it cheats its own logic to get there.

No real resolution: The cliffhanger ending with Zombie Thanos looks cool, but narratively it’s unsatisfying. It’s not an ending — it just cuts off.

Now dont get me wrong that also can be a positive because things dont always have to end on a complete note, plus turns out were gonna get more of a resolution with today’s Marvel Zombies show, it’s tied right to this episode.




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Final Thoughts & Rating 🎬

Marvel’s What If… Zombies doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does spin it differently enough to feel fresh. The idea of heroes retaining their powers while undead is both horrifying and genius. The Quantum Realm infection origin? Inspired.

It’s gory, it’s bleak, it’s chaotic — and honestly, that’s exactly what you want from Marvel’s take on zombies.

Rating: 9/10 🧟‍♂️🩸
(Easily the standout of Season 1. But fair warning: this ain’t for squeamish viewers.)


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SPOILERS BELOW 🔴

The Train Fight
So the survivors hop on a train bound for Vision’s location — but along the way, the undead crash the party. Cue one of the goriest MCU fights ever: Okoye slicing Zombie Falcon in half, Bucky cutting Zombie Cap down with his own shield, and Hope exploding a zombie from the inside-out. (Yes, in a PG animated show!)

Vision’s Secret
By the time they reach Vision, things look hopeful… until the reveal hits. Vision has T’Challa chained up in the back, missing a leg, and has been feeding him to Zombie Wanda, who he can’t bring himself to kill. It’s dark. Like, Walking Dead dark.

Hope succumbs to the virus. Bucky gets torn apart. Vision sacrifices himself. Banner hulks out one last time to hold the line.

Zombie Thanos Cliffhanger
The surviving trio — Spidey, T’Challa, and Scott Lang’s floating head — head to Wakanda with the cure… only for the camera to pan out and reveal the true horror:

Zombie Thanos, waiting in Wakanda, Gauntlet complete except for one stone.

In the darkest of times, humans will give all to save their planet. If it might bring an end to the universe.

Dunnnn dunnn dunnnn!

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? No. Now they’re Earth’s Deadliest Predators.

🟣 The Zombie Thanos Problem
Now here’s where things get a little… dumb. Zombie Thanos shows up in Wakanda at the end with all but one Infinity Stone. That cliffhanger wants you to go “oh snap, it’s about to get real.” But if you stop and think about it… what exactly is his plan? He’s already infected, the virus has spread across the world, and the Avengers are either undead or dead-dead. What does snapping with the full Gauntlet even do? Half the zombies disappear? Or worse — he snaps to infect every living being in the universe in one go?

If it’s the latter, that’s kind of hilariously pointless. Zombies aren’t conquerors, they’re not “balancing life,” they’re just mindless consumers. So Thanos turning into a zombie still chasing his grand cosmic destiny makes no sense — it turns him from the Mad Titan into the Dumb Titan.

Zombie Wanda’s Return Across the Multiverse

And here’s the surreal part — that wasn’t the only time we saw Zombie Wanda. After the What If… Zombies!? episode, she pops up again in Season 1’s Ultron arc, when Ultron Infinite breaks through the multiverse and stumbles into her reality. She’s unleashed on him like some sort of “living weapon,” which is honestly fitting — because even in undead form, Wanda is terrifying. Then she shows up again in the Season 2 finale, tossed into the chaos of the multiversal battle.

So let’s just sit with that for a second: Zombie Wanda has now appeared in three different What If episodes. Not as a character with depth, but more as a horror cameo, a multiversal “boogeywoman” Marvel pulls out to shock us. And now, knowing she’ll be featured again in today’s Marvel Zombies show? That’s surreal. We’ve gone from one-off horror gimmick to a recurring part of Marvel’s animated canon.

Anyways hope y’all enjoyed this reveiw, till next time.

Also here’s the official trailer for today’s spinoff series Marvel Zombies.

I shall have a reveiw of this by this weekend at the latest.