Review: "Marvel Zombies" is a Horrifically Good Time with an Amazing Cast of Characters

Building off of a beloved comic arc and a hit episode of What If…?, Marvel returns to the horror genre this Halloween season with their four-episode Marvel Zombies series on Disney+. And, while Marvel has had nothing but success with their horror outings in recent memory (Werewolf by Night and Agatha All Along were big hits), this new animated series might be their best foray into fear yet.

Marvel Zombies is a horrifically good time for those who don’t mind a little animated blood and guts. The new series dives right into the horror genre and embraces the craziness of its premise in all the most fun ways you can imagine. While the series is written by acclaimed comic book writer Zeb Wells, it feels like the best version of fan fiction. If you think about putting your favorite Marvel characters into the zombie apocalypse and imagine the crazy things that could happen and how their abilities would interact with that world, there’s a good chance it ends up happening in this series.

A big part of the success of this series is due to the characters Marvel decided to include. While the What If…? predecessor took some of the big names - like Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America and Iron Man - this series did a phenomenal job of assembling a perfect cast of characters for this situation. Kamala Khan, Riri Williams, Kate Bishop, the Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, Shang-Chi and others make up a terrific lineup for a very entertaining story.

And of course, the returning cast once again does a great job bringing their respective characters to life. Iman Vellani and David Harbour particularly stand out as Kamala and Red Guardian, with the latter delivering a fantastically emotional performance. However, there are also some newcomers who stand out. Todd Williams leads the charge on that front, bringing Blade Knight to life in spectacular fashion.

On that note, this series also introduces some variants of characters who are sure to be popular. Blade Knight, a combination of Blade and Moon Knight, delivers some of the most memorable moments of the series. And, while we’ve seen Zombie Wanda before, she gets much more time to shine. Plus, there are dozens of new zombified versions of our favorite characters, including Okoye, Namor and many more.

And with such an amazing cast of characters in this series, we get some truly incredible action. Again, Blade Knight delivers a great deal on that front, but there are plenty of other characters who provide some visually impressive moments. There is no shortage of moments that will draw an “oh yeah," perhaps even with a four-letter word of your choosing in the middle.

Of course, it should be noted that this series received a TV-MA rating and it certainly earned it. There are some incredibly gruesome moments, as you might expect from a zombie apocalypse series. There is also a bit of strong language, but nothing so extreme that it stands out as excessive. This is definitely not a series for an audience of younger Marvel fans.

And on top of the gore and the language, let’s not forget that this is a horror series. There are jump scares and nightmare-inducing visuals sprinkled throughout the four episodes. It’s certainly not the scariest thing you can find on Disney+, but it also shouldn’t be brushed off simply because it is an animated Marvel series.

One final thing that stands out about Marvel Zombies is that it is surprisingly epic. While zombie stories tend to be more intimate, this series blows up the scale in a major way. Instead of dark alleys and deserted streets, we get some massive battles and epic catastrophes. In this way, it veers much closer to your typical Marvel project than your typical horror story.

Overall, Marvel Zombies is just a good time for anyone looking for something fun to watch this Halloween season. It offers some wildly fun characters and exciting action, while diving into the horror genre to provide some scares as well. Don’t go into this one looking for any kind of progression to the story of the MCU. This is a standalone series that serves as more of a fun spinoff rather than a continuation. If you come in with those expectations, you’re sure to have a good time with this one.

Marvel Zombies is now streaming on Disney+.