'Marvel Zombies' Mini-Series Review

Marvel

Sep 26

Marvel Studios Animation has been knocking it out of the park lately. Between X-Men ‘97, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Eyes of Wakanda, the sky’s the limit for the animated side of the Marvel Universe. And there’s What If…?

Among the first Marvel shows to premiere on Disney+, What If…? never quite reached its potential. Despite a handful of standout episodes (Sadly, most of which are in the first season), What If…? often felt limiting and constrained despite priding itself on being about “infinite possibilities.” When a spin-off series focused on a universe infested by zombies was announced, I found myself greeting that announcement with a resounding “Eh???”. Like, sure, the zombies episode of What If…? was fine, but I didn’t think the episode was so good that it could carry its own series. Apparently, the creatives behind What If…? thought it could, to the point where Marvel Zombies was initially conceived as a feature film. It was retooled into a series, cause damn it, the creators were gonna get Spider-Man in this one way or another! And the end result? A truly pleasant surprise.

Marvel Zombies not only runs circles around What If…? in more ways than one, but it’s a genuinely entertaining series that showcases what great multiversal storytelling can be at its very best. Like Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies packs a lot into its painfully small number of episodes.

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The basic setup for Marvel Zombies is short, sweet, and to the point: there are superheroes, there are zombies, and said superheroes have to fight and kill those zombies. GO! It’s basically a good old-fashioned zombie story with a Marvel twist. On paper, that doesn’t sound particularly exciting. In execution, it keeps you on the edge of your seat for all four episodes. And yes, the show is filled to the brim with gloriously crafted animated violence. However, it should be said that this series isn’t “violent for Marvel’s standards” in the vein of Michael Giacchino’s Werewolf by Night or Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine.

Marvel Zombies often makes Invincible look like a Star Wars cartoon by comparison. Blood, guts, gore, decapitation, all the excellent benchmarks of zombie television are here, and if you live for that stuff like I do, this show is for you. If it’s not, you’re better off watching literally any other MCU series. The fact that the series is animated makes the violence a lot more fun. Sure, Spider-Man using his webs to rip the head off of multiple zombies would look cool in live-action. But seeing Spider-Man rip the heads of zombies in animation is pure nirvana.

A lot of credit goes to the show’s director, Bryan Andrews. A prolific MCU storyboard artist, dating back to Iron Man 2, he knows the Marvel DNA inside and out. His extensive experience on multiple action cartoons, such as Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, The Batman, and My Life As a Teenage Robot, also helps Andrews find himself in his element.

Far and away, the greatest aspect of Marvel Zombies is the characters. Whether intentional or not, Zombies shines a much-deserved spotlight on MCU heroes who haven’t been seen in live-action in quite some time. And some faces we only saw four months ago, but who is opposed to seeing more of the Thunderbolts? The decision to make Kamala Khan the main protagonist of a horror series, on paper, doesn’t make much sense and could potentially kill the series before it makes it to air. Luckily, it works. Making the main heroine of a zombie-centric series a character known for her childlike wonder, quirky personality, and overall sweetness, adds an extra dose of heart that was lacking in What If?…? Iman Vellani’s vocal performance not only continues her pitch-perfect adorableness as Kamala, but also gives her chances to show off her dramatic chops that she given the opportunity to in Ms. Marvel or The Marvels.

Her interactions with Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop and Dominque Thorne’s Riri Williams are also a blast to watch and provide a much-needed sneak peek into what a project with these three as the leads would be like.

Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Awkwafina as Katy, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, and David Harbour as Red Guardian are all sight for sore eyes (ears?) here. Liu and Awkwafina specifically get a lot of room to play here, maintaining the same chemistry they had in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi.

Hudson Thames also continues to kill as the voice-double for the MCU Spider-Man. Thames has found the perfect bridge between sounding like Tom Holland and making the character his own. While viewers may wish Spider-Man had more screen time than he’s given, Thames’ performance makes it worth it. And what is there to say about Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova that hasn’t been said already?

However, if there is any “breakout character,” it’s Blade. Voiced by Todd Williams, Bryan Andrews, and writer Zeb Wells, finally brings the living vampire to life in the MCU, and it’s terrific, even if it’s a variant. As Mahershala Ali’s god-given patience continues to be tested by constant delays to his Blade film, Marvel Zombies gives us a delicious appetizer for what we can expect from the character in the MCU. Kick ass action sequences, unmistakable aura, and cheesy one-liners all accompany Blade in this series, and he’s a blast to watch. The biggest downside is that every time Blade is on screen, I find myself asking why Zeb Wells wasn’t asked to write Blade at least two years ago. On the bright side, he and Bryan Andrews can take pride in giving us the greatest bits of Blade content since roughly 2002.

All in all, Marvel Zombies is a shockingly good series that effectively capitalizes on its central concept. It provides a sense of excitement, emotion, and well-done action that What If…? rarely did across three seasons. Despite some bumps in the road, such as the short amount of episodes, the painfully small amount of screen time for Spider-Man, and a sadly forgettable score by Laura Karpman and Nora-Kroll Rosenbaum (who did great work just this year for Captain America: Brave New World), the series mostly sticks the landing. Bryan Andrews, Zeb Well, and all the talented artists at Marvel Studios Animation continue the studio’s winning streak that started with X-Men ‘97.

If there is one lesson to take away from X-Men ‘97, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Eyes of Wakanda, and Marvel Zombies, it’s that animation should be a fundamental part of Marvel’s future. Whether they continue on Disney+ or make the move to the big screen, we can only hope that animation remains a priority. As X-Men ‘97 and Friendly Neighborhood return for new seasons next year, hopefully Zombies won’t be far behind.

Rating: 8/10

All four episodes of Marvel Zombies are available to stream on Disney+. Rated TV-MA (Viewer discretion is advised).

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