How Closely Will Disney+'s MARVEL ZOMBIES Mirror The Original Robert Kirkman Miniseries?

How Closely Will Disney+'s MARVEL ZOMBIES Mirror The Original Robert Kirkman Miniseries?

The animated TV-MA Marvel Zombies series is a spin-off of What If...? season 1, which exhibited similar yet distinct plot elements from Robert Kirkman's original 2005 comic book mini-series.

By MarkJulian - Mar 25, 2024 03:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Zombies
Source: Toonado.com

Brad Winderbaum, the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, seems to be everywhere these days.

He just revealed that the upcoming Eyes of Wakanda animated series will be canon within the sacred MCU timeline continuity and now he's hinting that the upcoming Marvel Zombies animated series will draw inspiration from the original 2005 comic book series from Sean Phillips and Robert Kirkman—yes, the same guy who created The Walking Dead.

Speaking to IGN, Winderbaum teased, "In terms of more mature animation, yeah, we're making a Marvel Zombies show right now that is pretty intense that's for sure a TV-MA show. "

"And again, it's trying to honor the comics. And what was so great about the comics was it not pulling its punches. That's certainly what we're going for on that project also."

During SDCC 2022, Marvel confirmed that the Zombies animated series would be a spinoff from What If...? season 1, episode 5 "What If... Zombies?!"

The show imagined an alternate version of events leading up to Thanos' invasion of Earth, one in which Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian landed on a zombie-infested world due to Hank Pym unintentionally releasing the virus long ago, as he searched for a way to save his wife from the Quantum Realm.

The episode concluded with a decimated Wakanda and a zombie-like Thanos brandishing an almost complete Infinity Gauntlet.

In the five-issue 2005 miniseries, the undead Marvel heroes are already established, with a large contingent of the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four inexplicably transporting themselves into an alternate reality in order to satiate their "hunger." 

When a small group of zombies obtain the "power cosmic" as a result of Galactus and the Silver Surfer's ill-timed visit, things get really bad.

Furthermore, a subsequent sequel series in 2007 supplied an origin for the zombie virus in the 2005 series.

Through a crossover with Dynamite Entertainment's Army of Darkness series, it's revealed that The Watcher actually caused the zombie invasion through an eternal time-loop, in which an unstoppable Sentry would be sent back in time, over and over again, to restart the zombie invasion.

Based on Winderbaum's comments, it will be interesting to see how closely the new series adheres to the original comic. While the What If...? episode definitely altered events to fit its narrative, there were definitely elements of the 2005 comic series within the episode. 

Zeb Wells (Robot Chicken) is leading development of the series, which will reportedly consist of 4 episodes. Wells will write each script while Bryan Andrews (Jackie Chan Adventures) directs. 

Andrews previously disclosed that he was unsure of when Marvel Zombies will be released as he stated that Marvel was continuously shifting things around, internally.

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TheLight
TheLight - 3/25/2024, 4:02 PM
"How Closely Will Disney+'s MARVEL ZOMBIES Mirror The Original Robert Kirkman Miniseries?"



User Comment Image
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 3/25/2024, 4:03 PM
Considering the comics sucked and were depressing as all hell, my guess is in title only.
Origame
Origame - 3/25/2024, 4:13 PM
@Twenty23Three - what? Those comics were very well written and well thought out.
mountainman
mountainman - 3/25/2024, 4:20 PM
@Origame - Marvel Zombies 1 and 2 were great. Not a fan of 3 or 4 and didn’t keep up past that.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 3/25/2024, 4:23 PM
@Origame - well they weren’t for me, but they where definitely too depressing for MCU, they’ll definitely take off the edges
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/25/2024, 4:08 PM
Interested to see if the series will retain the comic’s dark humor since I remember the What If episode having that (and being a fun one imo).

User Comment Image
Vigor
Vigor - 3/25/2024, 4:09 PM
They may be slowing down but we are still eatin' boys!
Vigor
Vigor - 3/25/2024, 4:43 PM
@Vigor - no pun intended
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 3/25/2024, 4:12 PM
the part that has zombies in it.
mountainman
mountainman - 3/25/2024, 4:15 PM
The first two Marvel Zombies series were really good, but they were far too dark for the MCU. Just the Giant Man / Black Panther plot point has a 0% chance of appearing in anything tied to the MCU.

The story just became too unwieldy when the zombies searched the multiverse for other fresh universes to devour.

It’s adapting the concept only, but there could be some easter eggs for fans of the comic.
MarkJulian
MarkJulian - 3/25/2024, 9:18 PM
@mountainman - They actually had a nod to that in the What If episode with Vision feeding T'Challa to Wanda.
mountainman
mountainman - 3/25/2024, 9:30 PM
@MarkJulian - Makes sense. Didn’t catch it because the whole sequence was much darker in the book.

I don’t think they have to follow the story in the book as it gets really convoluted over time. I just wish they made the zombies more intelligent than it seems like they did. That was always what stood out as a neat concept to me about the original.
Origame
Origame - 3/25/2024, 4:19 PM
Considering its still in Canon with the what if episode, it won't be.

A huge part of the story and how that worked was that all the zombie superheroes retained their intelligence and personalities. Literally all that changed behavior wise was an insatiable hunger for flesh.

But as set up in the what if episode, the zombies are just zombies

Also, galactus and silver surfer played a big role in how the story progressed. And I really don't see this being where they introduce those two with the fantastic four movie so close to release.
mountainman
mountainman - 3/25/2024, 4:22 PM
@Origame - The sentience and internal moral struggles of the zombies (they knew what they were doing was wrong but their hunger overrode their morals) was what really made it interesting. Sure super powered zombies are scary. But more interesting is super powered zombies that are internally struggling between their hunger and their morals trying to tell them to do the right thing.
Origame
Origame - 3/25/2024, 4:29 PM
@mountainman - exactly.
hainesy
hainesy - 3/25/2024, 4:24 PM
One of the Marvel Zombies sequel comics had this part where the zombies landed in an alternate universe. When Zombie Spider-Man scared regular Sandman, Sandman ran away and then killed a non-zombie Spider-Man by making him swallow him and then expanding. The visual was funny, but also basically shock porn by the artist. That's the problem with a lot of comics these days. They go for shock value and not story telling. Hopefully the series is better than that.
SATW42
SATW42 - 3/25/2024, 4:40 PM
As someone who has read basically every Marvel zombie series that has come out, including the Mangas, with the exception of the most recent, "Black white and blood" series, I can honestly say I do not care if it adheres to the comics.
SATW42
SATW42 - 3/25/2024, 4:40 PM
@SATW42 - and honestly I hope it doesnt.
GodHercules20
GodHercules20 - 3/25/2024, 4:55 PM
Did they explain how Sentry got infected?

Thor got infected in the comics but they should change that in the animation.
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 3/26/2024, 12:35 PM
@GodHercules20 -
Yes, he fought Zombie Hulk.
While beating him, the Hulk transforms into Bruce and asked Sentry for help. But once Sentry transforms into Robert, Bruce bites his hand, infecting him with the zombie virus and he begins to devour all life on Earth-91126, which turned into Earth-Z.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 3/25/2024, 5:47 PM
Think the most interesting bit from the comics it could resemble, is the zombies talking and keeping their intelligence. That and it being superheroes really sets itself apart from other zombies stories
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 3/26/2024, 1:46 AM
Gonna be interesting to seeing how much they can push the envelope.

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