Collider has revealed that Marvel Animation's What If...? spin-off, Marvel Zombies, is now shambling its way to Disney+ earlier than expected on September 24.
The site also caught up with showrunner and director Bryan Andrews to discuss the four-episode series, learning that Marvel Studios considered releasing it as a movie. Like Predator: Killer of Killers, we're guessing it would've been for streaming, rather than theaters.
"We were thinking it'd be a movie, if like, 'Ooh, we should release it as a movie.' We should just do a movie," he explained. "But there were some things that came up, certain issues that we just had to kind of, 'Oh let’s break it. We'll have to break it up into four episodes.'"
Andrews added, "So basically it's like a four-episode mini-event, like a film broke up into four parts, basically. It's one story. It's one throughline. A lot of insanity happens."
Marvel Zombies was given a TV-MA rating—the same as Daredevil: Born Again—when it was first announced, and Andrews later elaborated on what fans can expect from the R-rated series.
Explaining that there's "a tiny bit of language," the creative confirmed that the rating is primarily a result of the show's sheer level of violence and gore (it was also developed before Deadpool & Wolverine made it okay for the MCU to drop a plethora of F-bombs).
"We did try not to be gratuitous about [language], but there's like, a couple key parts where someone does say something because it just fits. Like that's what I would say in that moment," he shared. "So, I think the rating comes from the level of violence and or intensity of the moments that the characters find themselves in. And yeah, blood gets spilled, and we want to be able to see that."
While zombies aren't quite as popular as they were when The Walking Dead launched, we already know from What If...? that Earth's Mightiest Heroes battling their undead teammates makes for a fun ride.
Marvel Zombies' confirmed cast includes Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Awkwafina (Katy), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Randall Park (Jimmy Woo), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Hailee Steinfeld (Hawkeye), Dominique Thorne (Ironheart), Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), Hudson Thames (Spider-Man), and Todd Williams in a mystery role.
Bryan Andrews directs Marvel Zombies from a teleplay by Zeb Wells. Executive Producers include Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Wells, and Andrews. Danielle Costa and Carrie Wassenaar produce.
A brief synopsis has been revealed, but only states, "From Marvel Animation, 'Marvel Zombies' comes in time for Halloween in October 2025." We've since learned that Marvel Zombies premieres on October 3 September 24.