‘Marvel Zombies’ gruesomely shows what fun animation looks like

By Danielle Cherry

*Disclaimer: Marvel Zombies is filled with gore and rated MA for its graphic portrayal of a zombie apocalypse. While viewer discretion is advised in watching, reader digestion is encouraged when taking in my thoughts.

Picture a typical day in the Marvel Universe. A pedestrian is just minding their business until, hold on a second… is that a zombie?! Marvel Studios explores what the MCU would look like if a zombie apocalypse broke out, stemming from their popular episode “What if … Zombies.”

“Marvel Zombies,” while animated, is rated MA for a reason. Marvel Studios does not hold back in their gut-spilling, grotesque mutilation of zombies. Even though it is animated, the comic book style still allows for brutality to be quite graphic. It is still able to hold onto the characteristics of the live-action actors, making animated people look scarily similar to their real-life counterparts. 

While the Earth is running rampant with zombies, there is one hope: a small transmitter gifted to Ms. Marvel. Now, trying to summon what is left of the un-zombified heroes, Kamala tries to save what little is left of the infected world. 

The plotline features Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a big time superhero fanatic and now a superhero herself, trying to save the world from zombies being led by none other than our favorite (currently in her evil era and zombie era) Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). 

I am always in awe of the way Iman and Elizabeth are so perfect for their roles. Even while animated, Iman’s excitement for being in the MCU was audible, and her voice acting stayed true to her on-screen portrayal of Ms. Marvel. 

Elizabeth is simply a master of her craft, being able to play nurturing mother and possessed witch easily. Her raspy vocal undertones are highlighted more without her being on screen, making animated Scarlet Witch even more terrifying than the live-action version. 

What is fun about “Marvel Zombies” is the team mashups. Kamala finds herself with a group of heroes she would never interact with in the Sacred (main Marvel) Timeline. For Marvel fans, seeing the chemistry characters have with each other is exciting. 

While each episode begins with a new mashup of heroes, it always connects back to Kamala’s journey. Picking her to be the main character was an interesting choice on Marvel’s part, especially because she is the youngest hero in the mix. But this choice only goes to highlight the utter brutality of the apocalypse. 

Some standout choices in character mashing need to be mentioned. Blade makes a victorious return, but this time as the avatar of Konshu, donning the role of Moonknight. At first, I was hesitant of this choice, but seeing Moonknight’s power paired with Blade’s demeanor and sword handling made me wish for an episode solely focused on him. 

Spiderman and Scott Lang’s head, Yelena and Zemo, Shang-Chi and Jimmy Woo are all character pairs I never knew I needed. Marvel does an excellent job of mashing actors’ personalities together and letting them have fun onscreen. The recording studio must have been hilarious to watch, as all of the on-screen actors got the chance to work with some of the people they had always dreamed of working with on this project.

While we got to see moments of glory for our heroes, a lot of the time, it was moments that were gory. Despite it being a zombie apocalypse, there were some genuinely terrifying moments and jump scares. It was slightly traumatic watching some of my favorite heroes get gutted and ripped apart by zombies. 

The stakes of the storyline are still as big as ever, even though it is only four episodes. The show covers a lot of plot in a short amount of time, leaving viewers wanting more, even before we were left on a jump-scare cliffhanger. 

I loved the creativity of this show; clearly, the actors and animators had a lot of say in the way this show played out, mixing comedy with brutality, somehow still in a meaningful and heartfelt way. 

Many Marvel fans have complained that Phase Five of the franchise does not connect to the greater narrative arc. Unfortunately “Marvel Zombies” fits into that category, while a fun spin off series, I wish I could see how this could affect the Sacred Timeline, or even get snippets of this in a live-action project. 

Any Marvel Fan better run to their closest screen and watch this show. While gory, the show is worth it to see your favorite characters together at last. Just be careful not to get too attached to anybody, the zombies have a thing for eating brains… 

“Marvel Zombies” is currently streaming on Disney+

Danielle Cherry is a sophomore communication major and writer for Cedars A&E and Sports. She is a Missionary Kid from Germany and loves to travel, play volleyball and is currently utterly obsessed with Zombie Wanda.

Images Courtesy of Marvel Studios