The animation front of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues its impressive expansion. Following the massive success of multi-season projects like X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and the lore-expanding miniseries such as Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Studios Animation is proving to be a vital component of the franchise’s future. This successful streak is set to continue with Marvel Zombies, a new four-part series spinning out of one of the most popular episodes of What If…? The show promises to plunge a new group of heroes into a world overrun by the undead, pushing the boundaries of the MCU into darker, more horror-centric territory. In anticipation of the series, Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum and showrunner Bryan Andrews sat down with ComicBook to discuss the upcoming zombie apocalypse, revealing how the persistently delayed live-action Blade film forced one of the biggest creative changes in Marvel Zombies.
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“We felt like Blade was gonna be really exciting to put on screen, and we never thought that we would come out before the live-action Blade,” Winderbaum explained. “It was always designed to be after. But we knew that we’d be in concurrent development. Sometimes when you’re chasing live-action like that, if they pivot, and you don’t pivot in the same way, you get stuck because animation needs a lot more lead time.” To avoid being tethered to the live-action production, the Marvel Zombies creative team made a decisive pivot. “Making him the Fist of Konshu freed us up in a lot of ways, because he became now a new character with lore that we were creating for him, which let us kind of be more free and less tethered to the live action plans.”
The live-action Blade film has faced a troubled development history since it was first announced in 2019. After cycling through multiple directors and writers, the project was removed from Marvel Studios’ release calendar entirely. This has led to widespread rumors that the solo film may be scrapped in favor of a Midnight Sons team-up movie, which would potentially feature Ghost Rider in a leading role instead of the famous vampire hunter.
Marvel Zombies Is Blade’s First Official MCU Appearance
Mahershala Ali’s debut as the Daywalker has been one of the most anticipated arrivals in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since his uncredited voice cameo in the post-credit scene of 2021’s Eternals. The original plan saw his solo film releasing not long after that tease, formally introducing the character to audiences. However, the consistent production delays and schedule shuffles have unintentionally altered the course of Blade’s MCU journey. Wesley Snipes appeared as the Daywalker in Deadpool & Wolverine, but the movie underlines that version of the character is not the main MCU one. The character’s appearance in Marvel Zombies will now officially serve as his introduction, voiced by Todd Williams instead of Ali. This development was never part of the original plan, but one the showrunner has come to embrace.
“It was rad [seeing Blade in Marvel Zombies],” Andrews said. “We had no idea that it would be the first. We really thought that the Blade movie would be out and done by now, so it turned into this really wonderful, surprise privilege and honor to have him come out.” The early look at Marvel Zombies already generated significant excitement among fans, with the brief glimpses of Blade in action becoming a major talking point from the trailer. “So the people who are nerding out over the trailer are nerding out over the big set piece of Blade,” Andrews continued. “And I think it’s really high praise that when they see that, they go, ‘The movie! Why can’t we have a movie? It better be that cool! Oh my God!’, you know? That type of stuff is so gratifying to hear, so I’m thankful for it.”
All four episodes of Marvel Zombies are scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on September 24th.
What are your thoughts on Blade’s new role as the Fist of Khonshu in Marvel Zombies? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
