Marvel Studios has been struggling to find their groove since the release of the biggest movie ever, Avengers Endgame, all the way back in 2019. With stars like Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Downey Jr. (who is now returning in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday as Dr. Doom) all exiting the franchise, it’s been a struggle making new characters connect to the audience.
While Tom Holland’s Spider-Man franchise has remained successful, and Deadpool and Wolverine made a box-office splash, fans have been critical of Marvel’s recent productions, including movies that fans have enjoyed such as 2025’s Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps. These movies, despite positive feedback from fans, have failed to see the same box office success as the movies in the 2010s. 2023’s The Marvels was anything but marvelous for Marvel Studios at the box-office as it became the lowest grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe movie ever, only making $206.1 million worldwide with a budget of $375 million.
With the failure of The Marvels, it came to my surprise that Ms. Marvel, who was one of the leads of the film, would be the main character in their latest Disney+ TV show, Marvel’s Zombies.
Marvel’s Zombies is a Disney+ miniseries, telling the animated story of an alternate universe separate from the main MCU timeline, where a zombie plague has infected many of earth’s mightiest heroes, leaving a group of survivors searching for a cure to save their world.
The show was announced all the way back in 2021, and faced a multitude of delays, but finally released on September 24th, 2025.
As a big Marvel fan, I had mixed feelings coming into this show. I thought the premise of the show had potential, and the TV-MA rating gave the show the chance to have an unfiltered, and more mature tone throughout its story.
I did however have some doubts, as the story would follow many of the newer characters introduced post Avengers Endgame, such as Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi, Red Guardian, and Yelena Belova. While some of these characters are genuinely really compelling and interesting, I thought that Marvel might use this show to try to make the characters resonate with general audiences more despite their relative unpopularity.
However, as soon as I pressed play on the first episode, I realized that this series would be like nothing Marvel has ever done before.
The series is spin-off of Episode 5 of Marvel’s series What-If, and it is immediately clear that this series will have a more serious tone compared to Marvel’s signature comedic and lighthearted humour. The stakes are set early-on in the series as the show wastes no time killing off different characters, and revealing the dark and grim state of the world.
The show follows Ms. Marvel, which is an extremely interesting creative decision, as she would be the last character expected to lead a mature MCU show, but surprisingly that is what makes her work as the lead character. Seeing such a youthful and positive character be put in such a dire situation is what makes the story shine, and allows room for character development.
The show also shows love for other characters. The stand-out of the show is Blade Knight, who is voiced by Todd Williams. Blade Knight gives the show the most exciting action sequences, and a much more mature co-star to contrast the youthful Ms. Marvel.
The Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, also makes her MCU return as the show’s main antagonist. However, this inclusion feels more like fan-service to her incredibly huge online fanbase, rather than an inclusion that best fits the story.
Additionally, I’d have to critique the show’s humour, which often feels out of place amidst all of the chaos. In a post apocalyptic world, the humour should especially be toned down due to most of the characters losing most of their friends and families.
Overall, Marvel’s Zombies is an excellent take on the zombie apocalypse genre, and feels like something straight out of a comic-book. If the MCU can characterize its next generation of characters as well as they did in the show, the future is very bright.