Recap: Unlikely Heroes Assemble in Exciting Premiere Episode of "Marvel Zombies"

With the Halloween season upon us, it is time once again for the Marvel Universe to delve into the horror genre. Fresh off of the success of last year’s Agatha All Along, this year we revisit a popular episode of What If…? as well a hit comic series with the release of the animated Marvel Zombies series on Disney+.

Before diving into this show, it should be noted that this series has received a TV-MA rating and it may not be for all audiences. With that being said, it wastes no time getting into the jump scares and diving right into the horror genre.

The first episode opens with Kate Bishop, Riri Williams and Kamala Khan scavenging in a deserted New York City. They are followed by Iron Man armor with a teddy bear head, which we later learn is being controlled by FRIDAY, Tony Stark’s AI. They search for food before hearing a ship overhead. They rush outside and see a quinjet fly past before crashing to the street. They open the door to the jet and Kate interestingly points out that if they heard it, “he did too." Who is this “he" she’s talking about?

Riri scans the jet and finds nothing but a single signature inside the pilot. They investigate to find that he is dead but also that they should probably get whatever is creating that signature out of him. After losing a game of rock-paper-scissors, Kamala reaches into the pilot to get a device out of his chest.

Before they can get a closer look at the device, an arrow hits FRIDAY outside the ship and explodes. Kate points out that it’s Hawkeye, explaining who “he" is. Remember, the Avengers were wiped out early when the zombie virus hit and were a major cause of it spreading throughout Earth. Now, it appears Hawkeye has taken up in New York and terrorizes anyone who visits.

After recovering FRIDAY, the group has a brief fight with Hawkeye and it ends with them escaping. Kate even manages to get on of Hawkeye’s trick arrows in the process.

Back in their base, which is apparently the former home of Kate’s mother, the group takes a closer look at the device they found. Riri learns that it’s a transmitter created by SHIELD and outfitted for transgalactic broadcast. She also deduces that it wasn’t actually small, but it was shrunk using quantum energy so SHIELD could get it somewhere safe. She goes on to explain that it was part of a project called Project Lifeshot, a SHIELD effort to save the planet, and that in order to fully crack into the device, she needs a SHIELD motherboard.

The team debates taking the device to a SHIELD base in Ohio, with Riri arguing that they should stay there where it’s safe. After some back and forth, they convince Riri to set out to save the world.

Back in the city, a zombie Okoye and a horde of zombies with glowing red eyes find the downed quinjet. Hawkeye approaches and Okoye offers him “a gift from his queen." His expression changes and his eyes begin to glow red as Okoye tells him to “become her scion." Even as a zombie, poor Hawkeye is still getting mind-controlled.

The survivors make their way to Ohio before Riri slams on the breaks. They stare at a giant hole in the mountain range in front of them and wonder aloud what happened before continuing on. For a while, they see nothing of interest. Eventually though, they notice a storm approaching them quickly. As it gets closer, they realize it’s not a normal storm and lightning begins to strike the ground around them. Eventually, their vehicle is hit and they flip out of control.

After getting out of the car, they look up to see that FRIDAY is missing before an explosion chases them into some nearby rubble. The lightning illuminates some zombies as they sneak up behind them while the group watches the storm above. They realize it’s not actually a storm, but rather two beings fighting in the sky.

Suddenly, the group is surrounded by zombies. As they begin to fight, FRIDAY emerges and joins them. They’re handling the zombies until one of the beings crashes down from the sky. The figure stands as the dust clears and we see that it is Ikari, the former leader of the Eternals. Kate calls him a zombie but FRIDAY informs her it is actually inorganic. Then, the other being crashes down and we see that it is Carol Danvers, whom FRIDAY confirms is actually a zombie. The group runs as Ikaris and Carol continue their fight. Kate stops to watch them as Carol turns her attention to her and begins to charge her. Rather than running, Kate stands her ground and fires the trick arrow at Carol. It hits her in the chest, pauses for a moment and shoots confetti. Carol, unphased by the celebratory weapon, blasts Kate, incinerating her in seconds.

Kamala tries to run at Carol to avenge her friend. Distracted, Riri gets bit by a zombie and immediately begins to test what seems to be an antidote of her own creation. Kamala gets overwhelmed by Carol and is blasted to the ground. Riri orders FRIDAY to take the device and get Kamala to safety. As she is flown away, Kamala sees Riri getting overwhelmed by zombies. Once they’re safe, FRIDAY heartbreakingly informs Kamala that she lost her first owner and she won’t lose another, before going back for Riri.

After some objection, Kamala is forced to run when the fight between Ikaris and Carol brings more explosions. She eventually gets knocked unconscious by one of them and wakes up momentarily to see an approaching motorcycle and a hand reaching for her.

Kamala wakes up in New York to find Kate and Riri sitting at a coffee shop. She calls to them, but they look up slowly in silence and point at her. Kamala holds up the device before things go black around her. She hears a growl and turns to find Zombie Wanda, who provides another jump scare.

Kamala wakes up from her nightmare to find a man with glowing white eyes. He introduces himself as Blade and explains that Khonshu orders him to help the “fools" who go into that valley. It turns out, this is a version of Blade who has taken over the role of Moon Knight and the avatar of Khonshu. He explains to Kamala that her friends are gone and refers to the valley as “the valley of the broken gods," explaining that Khonshu knows that it’s a battlefield for two beings of immense power who are unable to ever defeat the other.

Blade also explains that Khonshu is aware of the importance of the device and goes on to say he is a friend of the night traveler. This is a plot point taken right from the comics, specifically an arc in which Moon Knight protects those who travel by night. Later, Blade explains to Kamala that Moon Knight was killed in the plague and he took over as Khonshu’s avatar.

The two eventually arrive at the SHIELD base to find it is surrounded by zombies. They are surprised though to hear a human voice call out to them. Kamala explains why they’re there and the zombies part, allowing them to pass through. They pull up to the building to find Melina, the Red Guardian and Yelena waiting for them. Melina uses technology to control the zombies. Kamala explains the device she found and Melina’s interest is piqued.

Inside, Melina explains that the device was created to transmit a message to the Nova Corps, because SHIELD believed they have the technology to save the planet. She goes on to explain that fallout from the “Wakanda event" (more on that in a second) scatters signals in Earth’s atmosphere. So the broadcast would have to be made from space. SHIELD apparently had this plan but were overrun by zombies before they could launch.

As for that “Wakanda event," that seems to be bad news for Spider-Man, T’Challa and Scott Lang(‘s head). You may remembers, the events of the zombies episode of What If…? ended with that group arriving in Wakanda with the Mind Stone in an attempt to cure the virus. However, they were greeted by Zombie Thanos, wielding all but one Infinity Stone. The fact that people refer to the “Wakanda event" insinuates that things went poorly for them there, but we’ll have to wait to know for sure.

Blade quiets the conversation and informs the group that the zombie horde has found them. An alarm sounds and they check cameras to see Zombie Okoye outside. He explains that Okoye is a scion of the Queen of the Dead: Wanda Maximoff. Remember, in this universe, we last saw Wanda battling the Hulk at Camp Lehigh. It looks like things didn’t end well for the Hulk either.

Okoye informs her troops that what they’re looking for is in the base before she is flanked by zombified versions of Abomination, Ghost, Hawkeye and, well, half of Captain America. Bucky cut him in half in What If…?.They are then joined by what seems to be thousands of zombies, all with glowing red eyes.

Melina nad Red Guardian scramble a group of widows and prepare for an attack. The zombies begin to rush in and Melina triggers explosions wiping most of them out. After a pause, more zombies rush in and the line of Melina’s mind-controlled zombies act as the next line of defense.

Hawkeye leaps over the defense, firing arrows to take out several of them. Abomination throws Captain America, and several other zombies onto the roof of the building, allowing them to get inside. Kamala, Yelena and Blade head to a hall to wait for their arrival. Meanwhile, Zombie Cap attacks Red Guardian, giving him (half) the fight he’s always wanted.

Outside, Okoye orders Abomination to charge the base and the widows focus all of their fire on the giant monster. After a hilarious fight, Red Guardian squashes Zombie Cap. Zombie Ghost is the next one sent in and the widows prove to be no match for her as she kills them all in seconds.

The remaining survivors begin to retreat by Melina stops and closes a door on Red Guardian, but not before telling him to protect Kamala. Melina uses her tech to take control of the horde of zombies just before they reach her. They all turn, no longer with glowing red eyes, to see Okoye, who is still under Wanda’s control. Okoye takes control back and the red eyes return to all of the zombies. She throws her spear, impaling Melina and destroying her tech in the process.

As the others run, Blade tells Yelena to duck. It turns out, he saw Zombie Ghost coming and got Yelena out of harm’s way just in time. After a brief fight, Blade slices Ghost up, removing what seemed to be one of the biggest immediate threats. The rest of the group is clearly impressed by what they just saw, as I assume the audience will be as well.

The group escapes on motorcycles, exploding the base before Abomination can reach them. Yelena calls for Melina but Red Guardian stops her from rushing back into the base. Yelena turns to Kamala, now motivated to get the device to space. Kamala points out that they don’t have a ship and Blade tells them he knows where they can get one as the episode comes to a close.

What an incredible start to this new series. This is the most fun, exciting and ambitious version of What If…? Marvel could possibly give us. This combination of characters is working incredibly well so far and fans are going to be buzzing about Blade Knight for quite a while after this. And this is only the beginning. There is a lot to be excited about with this new series.

Marvel Zombies is now streaming on Disney+.