Marvel Studios’ quick expansion into television with the launch of Disney+ has been a bag of mixed results for the company. Their lofty ambitions of continuing the stories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in other avenues was largely derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic forcing release dates to be pushed around across the board, but there has also been a quality issue too. Though a series like WandaVision is widely regarded as one of the best Marvel releases of the 2020s, the studio also released the likes of Secret Invasion. With their latest release however Marvel have proven another major criticism correct, and it only took five seconds.
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The troubles that have plagued Marvel Studios’ television work aren’t limited to their live-action shows, with their animated series earning stark criticism as well. One of the biggest issues levied at these shows, including What If…?, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Eyes of Wakanda, and now Marvel Zombies, is that the animation style leaves quite a bit to be desired. The cel-shaded look at the heart of all these projects is an attempt to make the series look somewhat lifelike, trying to make it seamless between the live-action versions of the characters and world that fans know. That said, the style has been derided for years, which made one specific sequence in Marvel Zombies both surprising and confusing. Spoilers follow.
One Marvel Zombies Moment Proved the Marvel Animation Style Is Still Boring
In the fourth episode of Marvel Zombies, everything in the plot has come to a head and a giant battle is taking place. All the heroes that we’ve followed are taking on Scarlet Witch and her army of the dead, but the MCU has also delivered us the Infinity Hulk to make things more complicated. At one point in the battle, a zombified Thor who is still powered by Stormbreaker makes his way toward the Infinity Stone-powered Hulk, a move that jeopardizes life as we know it.
As Thor passes ahead, one character makes a move with Blade flying toward the Asgardian in an attempt to stop him. Wanda however summons a beam of chaos magic down from the sky that completely annihilates Blade, fixing him in place mid air as his costume, skin, and eventually his bones, are dissolved by the power of the beam and he is eventually left totally atomized. You can see it in action below.
What makes this sequence stand out is not the fact that it’s a shocking death, though it ranks as one of the best in the series, it’s that this moment has its own distinct visual look. This scene stands out because it doesn’t fit the bill of the rest of the animation style of the series as a whole. It’s different, it’s stylized, it has depth, it pops and sizzles. In five seconds Marvel proved that the look for most of their animation has no real personality and that when they do something else it brings a level of visual interest that elevates the story in ways the regular style just can’t. It’s the most exciting moment in all of Marvel Zombies, and it’s because it went down a different road entirely.
It’s easy to point out this specific scene in Marvel Zombies as further proof that Marvel’s larger animation style remains boring and stale, but it’s just a cherry on top of the proof that Marvel themselves have already given us.
Marvel Can Still Fix Their Big TV Problem
There is a bit of an x-factor in all of this that hasn’t been addressed yet. The most popular animated Marvel Studios TV series on Disney+ also does not use the “house style.” X-Men ’97 not only picks up the plot from the original X-Men: The Animated Series but also uses an evolved visual palatte that was based on that original style. The series not only delivers well written character moments and but is exciting to watch with fluid movement, stylized action, and a visual sharpness that keeps you engaged.
The good news for Marvel however is that they can still address it in the future. So far the only confirmed projects that are on the way from Marvel Studios Animation are further seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, so anything else that might be developed and greenlit clearly has time to figure out its own visual language. Marvel has already given us a number of shows that have been stuck in this 2.5D animation style, and it’s time to make the change.
If the success of X-Men ’97 wasn’t proof enough that something more visually exciting for the audience was the right way to make animated shows, then maybe this super gruesome death from Marvel Zombies can push it over the edge and make the future even better.
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