Marvel Animation has two four-episode TV shows heading our way this year: Eyes of Wakanda and Marvel Zombies. The former promises to tell the stories of brave Wakandan warriors throughout history in a globe-trotting adventure meant to expand the Black Panther franchise.
The focus will be on a group called the Hatut Zaraze, with each episode showing them setting out to retrieve Vibranium artefacts from Wakanda's enemies.
Marvel Television boss describes the group "like Wakanda's CIA" and adds, "They often have to venture out to regain stolen Vibranium, but they also have to keep secrets well-hidden so that Wakanda can ward off invaders and stay safe. The Hatut Zaraze are challenged in different ways to stay loyal to Wakanda as they discover the rest of the world around them."
According to showrunner Todd Harris, animation was the only place to tell such a far-reaching story.
"Animation is the ultimate equalizer of locations," he explains. "Egypt costs just as much as New York City, and the moon costs just as much as Ohio. Filming around the globe has inherent limitations that we just don’t have in animation. That freedom allowed us to reimagine an idealized version of an era that’s unaffected by human history."
It's also been confirmed that the voice includes Winnie Harlow, Cress Williams, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, Zeke Alton, Steve Toussaint, and Disney Legend Anika Noni Rose.
Moving on to Marvel Zombies, we've now learned that it will indeed serve as a sequel to that memorable What If...? season 1 episode.
Showrunner Bryan Andrews teases, "Brad and Kevin [Feige] loved the What If...? episode so much. They were like, 'We need more zombies!' They said, ‘Let’s do a sequel to that episode - but let’s do four episodes, like a mini-movie event.' So, we’re upping the ante."
"It’s TV-MA, so we don’t have to pull punches," Andrews continues. "We can be a little bit more hardcore. We go for the throat — no pun intended. It’s pretty wild, pretty out there."
Marvel Zombies features the voices of MCU stars Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, and Iman Vellani. "An old favorite also shows up: Zombie Cap makes an appearance," Andrews adds. "He has quite a scuffle with another main character, and I think fans will love it."
Eyes of Wakanda premieres on August 6 with Marvel Zombies set to follow on October 3.