A recent cosplay collaboration has given us the chills in all the best ways. Drawing inspiration from the popular Marvel Zombies comic series, cosplayers Aye Em Bonesie (@zombonezie) and Haunted Cosplay (@hauntedcosplay) brought heroes zombie Gambit and Ant-Man to life — or is it un-life? — in gruesome, gory, and glorious detail. Photographed by New York-based cosplay photographer Mark (@nycosplayer), the shots posted to Instagram show both a closeup and a full-body shot of both cosplayers’ impressive recreations of the Marvel characters. Haunted Cosplay’s Ant-Man is even depicted as “travel-size,” adding to incredible detail and authenticity of the Marvel Zombies-inspired looks.
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The Marvel Zombies comic series began in 2005 and was fittingly created by The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman, with art by Sean Phillips and covers by Arthur Suydam. Spun out of the Ultimate Fantastic Four series, Marvel Zombies takes place on Earth-2149, where a mysterious superhero crash lands and infects the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four in that dimension with “the Hunger” for human flesh. In a departure from most zombie media, the infected heroes retain their intellect, abilities, and personalities post-bite. The series was a hit for Marvel, spawning more spinoffs, one-shots, and specials, not to mention the upcoming Marvel Zombies animated series that will debut on Disney+ later this year.
This Marvel Zombies Gambit Cosplay Has Us Hungry for His Inclusion in Animated Series
Aye Em Bonesie’s cosplay of Zombie Gambit contains prosthetic work and costuming that rivals top movie studios. Photographer Mark shot the cosplay at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, New York, whose grimy warehouse location further immerses the viewer in the chilling scene. The photos are so brilliantly grotesque that now we’re hoping the zombified version of the X-Man will pop up in Marvel Zombies when the show premieres in October.
While the Marvel Zombies official description is hilariously straightforward and brief –“It’s Marvel Zombies!” — we do know that the event series will consist of four episodes that follow “a new generation of heroes [battling] against an ever-spreading zombie scourge.” The miniseries serves as a spiritual successor to the “What If … Zombies?!” episode of What If…?’s first season and boasts a stacked cast of Marvel actors returning to voice their characters. Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, and Iman Vellani all reprise their live-action roles.
Vellani previously shared that Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel will be “at the center” of the new miniseries. “They described it to me, it’s like, ‘She’s basically the Frodo of the story.’” Vellani said. “And I was like, ‘That’s amazing.’”
Vellani went on to tease “a lot of cool characters” in the upcoming series, calling her time working on Marvel Zombies as “amazing” and “so much fun.” And though there’s no sign yet that Gambit is one of those characters who will be making an appearance on the show, this recent cosplay demonstrates that he would make a dangerous, but highly entertaining addition.
The Marvel Zombies animated series premieres on Disney+ October 3rd.
