On September 24, all four episodes of the Marvel Zombies animated series were released on the Disney+ service. The project is based on the fifth episode of the first season of another Marvel Animations animated series — What If...? — and continues its storyline. How the zombie apocalypse happened in the MCU and why it's good — we'll break it down in this review!
The Origin of the Virus
For the first time, the concept of "Marvel Zombies" appeared in the comic Ultimate Fantastic Four under number 21 — in July 2005. According to the plot, the team of heroes ended up in a parallel dimension where a zombie apocalypse had occurred: all the people on that Earth had turned into living dead. After the food supply for the zombies was exhausted, the local Reed Richards — the leader of the Fantastic Four — decided to lure his double from the Ultimate universe into a trap. But the only surviving character of this doomed world — who turned out to be Magneto — helped the heroes escape, giving his life for it.
The issue was liked by readers, who praised the comic for an interesting and unexpected idea for the series, and its plot gave rise to a mini-series of five issues that were released in December of the same year — it was authored by Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead and Invincible
The concept became one of the most unusual for Marvel, and after many years, the franchise bosses decided to take advantage of it, combining three elements at once:
- the events of the cinematic universe, which serve as the basis for the animated series;
- the idea of "What If...?" — a series of comics that featured short stories about how certain events could have unfolded if some things had turned out differently;
- the "Marvel Zombies" setting from the aforementioned mini-series;
As a result, we got an episode that is an alternative version of the events of the film "Avengers: Infinity War": Bruce Banner — aka the Hulk — who arrived on Earth tries to warn the heroes about the impending threat in the form of Thanos, but discovers that his old friends are not at all who they used to be.
The original episode turned out to be interesting, albeit somewhat chaotic — the story develops too quickly, sometimes not allowing the viewer to feel the emotional weight of the cruel and tragic moments, of which there are plenty. A full-fledged story from the fifth episode of "What If...?" never came out — it was more of a teaser for a future project, which Marvel Zombies became, the release of which had to wait as long as four years. However, the same can be said about many other episodes of What If...?
Zombie Movie
The story starts a few years after the events described in "What If...?" — the remnants of humanity are fighting with the growing horde of zombies with their last strength. Since almost all the old superheroes were either killed or turned into living dead, the main characters of Marvel Zombies are the secondary characters of the fourth and fifth phases of the MCU: Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi, Red Guardian and others. There's even Blade, who was awarded the powers of Moon Knight, making a hybrid of a vampire and an avatar of Khonsu — the Egyptian god of the moon. By the way, despite the fact that Blade was voiced by actor Todd Williams, his appearance was given to him by Mahershala Ali — he was supposed to play the hero in the cinematic universe, but the film ended up in production hell and disappeared from the horizon. But at least somewhere Ali was able to play this role, at least partially.
All the heroes of the project synergize well with each other and the story: Ms. Marvel gives the heroes hope in the darkest hour, the Red Guardian jokes and is sad at the same time in his own way, and the chemistry of Shang-Chi and Katy (his girlfriend) on and off the battlefield sometimes makes you believe that this is one complete character.
Despite the fact that the plot does not provide the viewer with any deep backstory of the heroes or unusual twists, Marvel Zombies uses the characters of the failed phases of the MCU often better than their original projects did. All this became possible thanks to an adult approach to the story and setting, which show the heroes as strong, brave and trying to survive.
Looking at them, you can't say that these are "soy" protagonists who are unable to impress the viewer — you want to empathize with the heroes! However, you better know in advance who they are, because the series practically does not give any backstories or explanations, throwing everyone into the thick of things. There will be no backstories or explanations.
And some other characters sometimes please — even if they are shown very fleetingly. For example, Wenwu — Shang-Chi's father, known as Mandarin — who immediately sacrificed himself after his son was bitten: he gave him his rings, which restrain the infection, and died himself.
All four episodes of Marvel Zombies, combined with the What If...? series, make up a full-fledged film that is two and a half hours long. That's what it was supposed to be originally, but due to the rights to the screen adaptation of Spider-Man, which belong to Sony, Marvel was forced to change the format of the work to a series. The agreement between Disney and Sony has a clause according to which Marvel Studios cannot use Spider-Man in projects that last more than 30 minutes.
The Stench of the Dead
There are downsides.
The ending turned out to be controversial — it does not give any catharsis, but directly hints at a possible continuation, the meaning of which does not seem to be very much — an empty stretching of the story for the sake of "milking" the audience. It was worth ending here and now, even in the most cruel way — it would have been even better and more touching.
On the other hand, it does two important things: first, the final twist turned out to be unusual — which is a huge rarity for the MCU, and secondly, the end itself is the second thing, besides the zombie setting itself, that somehow connects the animated series with the original comic. Although the hint of a continuation devalues this connection.
Discrepancies in how some elements of the cinematic universe work, such as the Infinity Stones, are striking: if in the film Thanos simply destroyed them and they disappeared, then here it is not so simple. What nonsense?! Even if the universes are different, their rules must be the same for everyone. There are enough such little things upon detailed examination.
There are also problems with logic: it is not always possible to understand the meaning of the heroes' actions — especially the antagonist's. However, if we assume that this is what the brain of a zombified hero came up with, then looking for logic in his actions is a hopeless task. Probably. A controversial point.
Some storylines are cut off and lead to nothing: Vision in the fifth episode of "What If...?" was able to find a cure for the virus and even saved Scott Lang — or rather his head — but no one remembered this anymore, although the android gave a direct direction for finding a solution to the problem.
Infectious Beauty
But besides the good characters and the fresh concept for the MCU, there are things that Marvel Zombies cannot take away.
Firstly, there is a lot of cruelty in the project, which is not typical for the MCU: there is a lot of blood in the frame, characters die, flying into pieces, zombified ones are also torn apart, cutting off their heads and other parts of the body. All this looks "juicy" — about the same as in "The Boys", but given the setting, everything looks more appropriate.
Secondly, the staging of some scenes is pleasing to the eye — animators sometimes use familiar, but effective visual techniques, emphasizing the epicness of the moment: from banal slow-motion shooting to interesting angles and camera flybys. There is something to see, and the drawing and animation are sometimes even better than in "What If...?"!
Thirdly, the local humor is slightly strange — especially Scott Lang's jokes — but its absurdity goes to the project's advantage, reducing the degree of tension at the right moment and creating a certain balance of mood.
However, they didn't quite push it here either: there is no unique music in the project, only standard compositions. If the quality of the sound performance corresponded to the visual, then I would like to praise the project even more.
Diagnosis
Marvel Zombies from a small teaser, which was the fifth episode of the first season of the What If…? series, has turned into a full-fledged full-length animated film — even if it had to be cut into pieces due to a formal agreement. The project is captivating with the concept of a zombie apocalypse, which, although not something new, revives two genres at once together with superheroism.
Due to its gloomy atmosphere, dynamic narration and adult rating, "Marvel Zombies" makes you take a fresh look at the characters of the cinematic universe, who could have been annoying before — here the heroes have character and a will to live, there is no place for "agenda" and other progressive elements, and simple (but effective!) directing and camera techniques bring what is sometimes lacking in the latest MCU films: emotions and atmosphere.
You have to pay for everything with script stupidity, problems with logic, inconsistencies and a controversial ending, which, instead of squeezing all the juices out of the work, for some reason hints at a continuation. However, even if it is good, it will spoil the very idea of Marvel Zombies.
In any case, we advise you to familiarize yourself with the project — it can brighten up your evening if you like both genres.
