There's a particular thrill when Marvel lets its darker impulses off the leash. The new stills from Marvel Zombies aren't just publicity shots—they're a warning flare. Scarlet Witch, all rotting elegance and vacant fury, might be the most nightmarish image Marvel has sanctioned in years. And Namor, stripped of his mythic nobility and rendered as a flesh-eating god, looks like the kind of monster you'd expect to see in a fevered George A. Romero crossover dream.
It's grisly. It's grotesque. And it's exactly what fans of Marvel's weirder corners have been waiting for.
Bryan Andrews, the showrunner and director, admitted Marvel initially toyed with releasing this story as a feature film before conceding it needed the room to breathe—or maybe bleed—across four parts. “Basically it's like a four-episode mini-event, like a film broken into four parts,” Andrews told IGN. That phrasing matters. Marvel wants you to treat Marvel Zombies less like a side project and more like a mini horror epic.
Andrews isn't bluffing either. The series has assembled a staggering voice cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Florence Pugh, Simu Liu, David Harbour, Tessa Thompson, Paul Rudd, Hailee Steinfeld, Wyatt Russell, Iman Vellani, Dominique Thorne… the list goes on. The voices alone sound like a twisted roll call of the MCU's next decade.
Of course, none of that matters if the tone doesn't land. Marvel dabbling in horror has been a spotty experiment (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness flirted with it, Werewolf by Night nailed it). Here, though, the imagery screams commitment. Scarlet Witch's hollow eyes, Namor's feral snarl, even Thanos lumbering in zombie form—it's Marvel stripped of its corporate polish and smeared in blood.
And the timing feels deliberate. Releasing on September 24 on Disney+, the four-episode, TV-MA event is essentially Marvel's fall horror drop, positioned for the Halloween season binge. Each installment runs about 30 minutes, meaning you can devour the whole saga in one sitting… if your stomach holds.
It's easy to imagine some fans rolling their eyes—“Zombies? Really?”—but the MCU's strength has always been its elasticity. This isn't about canon. It's about giving Marvel the chance to play in a sandbox where Ant-Man can get gnawed on, where Valkyrie can ride into apocalypse fire, where Scarlet Witch can finally embody the full terror her powers suggest.
Marvel has always promised the multiverse means anything can happen. Well, here's the proof: anything… includes the dead refusing to stay down.
What You Should Know Before Marvel Zombies Premieres
Scarlet Witch leads the undead charge
The photos confirm Wanda Maximoff will be one of the series' most fearsome villains, her undead design already haunting fan circles.
Namor's monstrous makeover
No longer the regal king, Namor emerges as a predator stripped of purpose, a sharp contrast to his Wakanda Forever debut.
From film to mini-event
Bryan Andrews revealed Marvel almost made Zombies a movie, before splitting it into four interconnected episodes.
Stacked voice cast
Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Florence Pugh, Simu Liu, and more lend voices to the survivors and the infected alike.
Release timing matters
Dropping September 24 on Disney+, the TV-MA show is positioned as Marvel's gruesome seasonal binge.
