While 18 stars reprise their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles in the animated Marvel Zombies series, there are seven main characters who have instead been recast for new voice actors. Marvel Zombies released all four of its episodes on September 24, 2025, continuing the story that began in What If…? season 1, episode 5, “What If… Zombies?!” What If…? saw Janet van Dyne return from the Quantum Realm in 2018 with a virus that caused a zombie outbreak on Earth, leading to the deaths of millions, including many of the most powerful Avengers.
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Picking up five years after the initial outbreak – reminding us of Avengers: Endgame’s Blip – Marvel Zombies follows various bands of survivors trying to find a cure for the virus while going toe-to-toe with the Queen of the Dead, a zombified and formidable Wanda Maximoff. Some of the most exciting new MCU characters returned in Marvel Zombies, with many stars on Marvel Studios’ payroll reprising their roles from past live-action projects. Even so, there were seven characters who were recast in Marvel Zombies. Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Marvel Zombies.
7) Okoye (Kenna Ramsey)
The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira plays Okoye in the MCU and voiced the Wakandan Dora Milaje general in What If…? season 1, but didn’t return for Marvel Zombies. Instead, Kenna Ramsey (My Adventures with Superman, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight) voiced the zombified Okoye in Marvel Zombies – she lost her life in What If…? – following her voice role as Okoye in What If…? season 3. In Marvel Zombies, Okoye was the highest-ranking member of the Red Queen’s army of the dead, issuing commands and signals in Maximoff’s stead.
6) Eric Brooks’ Blade/Moon Knight (Todd Williams)
Mahershala Ali was announced to be cast as the MCU’s Eric Brooks, the Daywalker known as Blade, in 2019, and he made his first voice cameo appearance at the end of Eternals. The production of the MCU’s Blade reboot has been incredibly tumultuous, which has delayed Ali’s live-action debut as the vampire hunter, but his likeness was used for the Moon Knight version of the character in Marvel Zombies. This iteration is voiced by Todd Williams (San Andreas, Invincible), and it’s currently unclear when or which version of Blade will next be seen in the MCU.
5) Melina Vostokoff (Kari Wahlgren)
Kari Wahlgren is a MCU veteran when it comes to voice acting. She has voiced various characters in What If…?, X-Men ’97, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, including Carina, Rose Gilberti, May Parker, and Melina Vostokoff – a role she reprised in Marvel Zombies. Melina is the mother figure to Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova who is a steadfast hero in Marvel Zombies, rather than the Iron Maiden iteration Wahlgren previously voiced in What If…?. Vostokoff was played by Rachel Weisz in Black Widow, but she hasn’t yet reprised the role in live-action.
4) Xu Wenwu (Feodor Chin)
After voicing Xu Wenwu in two episodes of What If…?, Feodor Chin (Hit-Monkey, Scrambled) returned as the real Mandarin and original user of the Ten Rings for a brief moment in Marvel Zombies. Originally played by Tony Leung in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wenwu traveled to San Francisco during the outbreak of the zombie virus with his Ten Rings soldiers to find and protect his son, Shang-Chi. After Shang-Chi was bitten, Wenwu gave up the Ten Rings to save his life, sacrificing himself just as he does in the live-action MCU.
3) Peter Parker’s Spider-Man (Hudson Thames)
While Tom Holland has been lauded as perhaps the best actor to portray Peter Parker’s Spider-Man in live-action, he hasn’t voiced the wall-crawling Avenger in Marvel Studios’ animated projects. Instead, it’s Hudson Thames (American Soul, Ghosts) who returns as the animated Spider-Man, following on from his voice roles in What If…? and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Spider-Man was crucial to “What If… Zombies?!,” and continued to be just as important in Marvel Zombies, as the rest of his mission to Wakanda with Ant-Man and the Black Panther was explored.
2) Baron Helmut Zemo (Rama Vallury)
Following on from his voice role in X-Men ’97, Rama Vallury returned in Marvel Zombies as the voice of Baron Helmut Zemo. In Marvel Zombies, Zemo is the leader of the City on the Sea – the Raft prison converted into an epic life vessel. Zemo uses the surviving heroes on board in an attempt to distract Namor and the zombified Talokanil, but this didn’t exactly go to plan. Vallury (Iron Man and His Awesome Friends, The Signal) takes over from Daniel Brühl who has played Zemo in live-action in Captain America: Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
1) Thor (Greg Furman)
Chris Hemsworth has played the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor, throughout almost the entire history of the MCU, and will return in Avengers: Doomsday next year. This makes it curious as to why Hemsworth didn’t return to voice Thor in Marvel Zombies. The God of Thunder was instead voiced by Greg Furman (Waking Up With Strangers, Shifter). Thor only had a couple lines in Marvel Zombies, and Hemsworth’s schedule might have been too busy to provide the voice for the character, but this recasting could hint at huge changes for Thor in the MCU’s future.
Read the full list of returning MCU stars below:
Every Returning MCU Actor In Marvel Zombies
18) Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel: A teenage mutant from Jersey City who leads the mission to cure the zombie virus. Vellani last appeared in The Marvels (2023).
17) Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams’ Ironheart: A genius MIT student who stole a suit of armor from the zombified Iron Man. Thorne last appeared in Ironheart (2025).
16) Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop: Hawkeye’s protégé. Steinfeld last appeared in The Marvels (2023) and What If…? season 3 (2024).
15) Kerry Condon as FRIDAY: An artificial intelligence that powers Williams’ Iron Man suit. Condon last appeared in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
14) Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova: A former Black Widow assassin and daughter figure to Red Guardian. Pugh last appeared in Thunderbolts* (2025).
13) David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov’s Red Guardian: A Russian super-soldier and father figure to Yelena Belova. Harbour last appeared in Thunderbolts* (2025).
12) Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi: A master of martial arts who uses the Ten Rings to prevent infection spreading from his bitten arm. Liu last appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and What If…? season 3 (2024).
11) Awkwafina as Katy Chen: Shang-Chi’s best friend who also wields the Ten Rings. Awkwafina last appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
10) Randall Park as Jimmy Woo: A former FBI agent. Park last appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
9) Wyatt Russell as John Walker’s US Agent: A former Army Rangers captain and super-soldier. Russell last appeared in Thunderbolts* (2025).
8) Paul Rudd as Scott Lang’s Ant-Man: A disembodied head who uses Doctor Strange’s Cloak of Levitation to fly around. Rudd returns from What If…?. Rudd last appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
7) Adam Hugill as Rintrah: A minotaur-like sorcerer and the protector of Kamar-Taj. Hugill last appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
6) Daniel Swain as the London Master: A Master of the Mystic Arts who protects the Sanctum Santorum in London. Swain last appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
5) Sheila Atim as Sara: A Master of the Mystic Arts who protects Kamar-Taj. Atim last appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
4) Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie: The last survivor of an all-female group of Asgardian warriors and the protector of New Asgard. Thompson last appeared in The Marvels (2023) and What If…? season 3 (2024).
3) Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan: Kamala Khan’s mother who has a voice cameo. Shroff last appeared in The Marvels (2023).
2) F. Murray Abraham as Khonshu: The Egyptian God of the Moon who uses Blade as his avatar following Marc Spector’s death. Abraham last appeared in Moon Knight (2022).
1) Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff’s Queen of the Dead: A former Avenger who harnesses Chaos Magic as a zombie and seeks even more power to save the world in her own twisted way. Olsen last appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
