The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first foray into animation, What If…?, introduced audiences to the vast possibilities of the multiverse, showcasing branching timelines populated by intriguing variants of beloved characters. One of the most popular and talked-about episodes of the inaugural season was “What If… Zombies?!,” a horror-tinged adventure inspired by the Marvel Zombies comic book series. The episode’s success and cliffhanger ending led Marvel Television to greenlight a dedicated spin-off, a four-part animated series also titled Marvel Zombies, which is set to premiere this September. Before the series premieres, ComicBook interviewed Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum and showrunner Bryan Andrews, and the creative team confirmed that a blueprint for a potential second season is already in place, waiting for the signal to move forward.
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“Please, like, people have got to subscribe to Disney+ and watch this show,” Winderbaum said. “If that happens, they will get more. And we are excited. We’re ready.”
The future of Marvel Zombies hinges on its reception, a decision that aligns with a significant overhaul in Marvel Studios’ production strategy. The studio is consciously moving to release fewer movies and television shows in the coming years, shifting its focus from quantity to quality. On the television side, this includes a greater emphasis on developing series that can sustain multiple seasons rather than one-off miniseries. While Marvel Zombies fits this new model, the studio is being particularly prudent in gauging audience engagement before committing to another season. This cautious approach is understandable, especially following the commercial disappointments of the last three MCU films to hit theaters in 2025.
What Stories Can Marvel Zombies Tell in Season 2?
The concept of a zombie-infested Marvel Universe originated in the pages of the comic books. In 2005, writer Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, teamed with artist Sean Phillips to launch Marvel Zombies, a five-issue limited series that quickly became a cult classic. The story was born from a storyline in Mark Millar’s Ultimate Fantastic Four and presented a grim alternate reality where an alien virus turned the world’s greatest heroes into flesh-eating monsters. The initial series was a massive success, spawning a vast number of sequels and spinoffs over the years that explored every corner of its post-apocalyptic world, introducing zombified versions of cosmic entities and even crossing over with other franchises. While this extensive comic book history provides a deep well of inspiration for Season 2 of Marvel Zombies, Winderbaum confirms that the MCU’s version of the undead saga is forging its own path.
“We had a lot of freedom, you know, in development in terms of characters we could use or where we wanted to explore. But there were certain lore considerations,” Winderbaum explained. “What Robert [Kirkman] and Sean [Phillips] did in that original book, it kind of branched off from what Mark Millar was doing. It was just a different time in the comics, a different universe. We were branching off of 616, sorry, of the MCU version of 616. The pieces on the board were in different places for us to start the story. That lore is very rich and expansive, and Brian and I nerd out all the time about other characters and other things that are happening in the universe at the same time, and where we would explore if we were so lucky to make a second season.”
Marvel Zombies is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on September 24, 2025.
What other MCU characters do you hope to see get the zombie treatment in a potential second season? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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