Marvel has confused the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe several times in the past, and the new animated Marvel Zombies series just did it again. Marvel Zombies released all four of its episodes on September 24, 2025, continuing the story first seen back in 2021 in What If…? season 1, episode 5, “What If… Zombies?!” The series revealed that Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Ant-Man’s mission to use the Mind Stone to send a curative signal around the world failed, allowing Wanda Maximoff’s Queen of the Dead to continue her rampage for five years.
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In this zombie-infested universe, the outbreak started when Hank Pym collected Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm in 2018, only to bring her back with a Quantum Virus that spread rapidly. This means that civilization effectively ended in 2018 in the reality explored in Marvel Zombies, which means that the inclusion of heroes and characters who didn’t emerge in the MCU until after Ant-Man and the Wasp confuses the timeline. The likes of Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop, Riri Williams, John Walker, and more didn’t have their powers in 2018, but including them in Marvel Zombies solves another MCU problem.
Why Marvel Zombies’ Confused Timeline is Actually a Good Thing
One of the biggest criticisms of the MCU in recent years is that some of the most exciting new heroes haven’t made appearances since their debuts. Even though Marvel Zombies‘ inclusion of many heroes doesn’t make sense in the overall timeline of the MCU, it did mean that these heroes actually got some much-needed development. This is more than the live-action MCU has given many of them, so it’s easy to look past Marvel Zombies’ confusion when some of our favorite new heroes have taken center-stage in the animated series.
Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan has had some development since her debut in Ms. Marvel, given her return in The Marvels, and it was great to see Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell’s US Agent, and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost return recently in Thunderbolts*. However, some of Marvel Zombies’ heroes haven’t been seen in the MCU since their debut, including Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Awkwafina’s Katy, and Moon Knight – who was Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector in Moon Knight but Todd Williams’ Eric Brooks, Blade, in Marvel Zombies.
Some of these characters are expected to be rejoining the live-action MCU in the Russo brothers’ upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Until then, however, it was great to see them get more development in animation in Marvel Zombies. This is enough to make us forget about the timeline confusion caused in the animated series, and the fact that it’s a Multiverse Saga show means that some creative liberties can be taken when designing the alternate zombie-infested universe.
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