Marvel Zombies: Where's the Hunger?

By John Kirk

Rating: C

Zombies are terrifying because they eat people. That’s it. That’s the reason. When they eat, they devour or turn other creatures into zombies. You know: The Walking Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Lunchtime of the Dead…?

I think that simple truth goes forgotten in the latest offering to the Marvel Animated Universe, the creatively named Marvel Zombies.

To be fair, that was the basis for the likewise monikered Marvel Zombies comic mini-series. The difference between the Mighty Marvel and conventional zombies was that the former had their powers AND their intellect. They were driven by a relentless hunger that overwhelmed their sense of heroism, and they were far more dangerous than the regular zombie ilk.

In the original, the Zombie variant was discovered by the Ultimate Fantastic Four. The zombies used their super-powers to devour their planet and eat Galactus. Long story. Go look it up. It’s a lot of fun.

But fans will be surprised to see that the premise for the Marvel Zombies on the small screen is completely different. In fact, I had to go back and re-read my hardcover collections of the mini-series and its successors just to see if there was anything the same. Nope – complete reimagining and it sort of misses the point.

In this version, written by the popular Zeb Wells (he’s penning the Deadpool/Batman crossover in the comic world), the world has gone to Zombie Hell for reasons unknown. And the first heroes we meet with all their organs and whatnot intact are Kamala Khan - Ms. Marvel (voiced by Iman Vellani), Riri Williams aka Ironheart (Dominique Thorne) and self-proclaimed wannabe Hawkeye, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld).

We learn that somehow the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) has become the Queen of the Dead and controls a zombie horde that includes some of the former heroes. They have their powers but none of their personalities. It’s darker, strikes a more serious tone and, in lieu of the staple characters, they use ones featured in recent Marvel projects like Ironheart’s Riri Williams.

The tone is vastly changed, and it’s largely to do with the absence of fun. Though the world and its super-powered population had been transformed into vicious undead caricatures of themselves, the comic mini-series had moments of levity. The audience didn’t have to take it seriously. Also, as it was set in a forgotten otherworlds dimension, writer, Robert Kirkman (creator of The Walking Dead – small wonder, eh?) and artist Sean Phillips could afford to do silly things like have Giant-Man feast off bits ‘n’ pieces of the Black Panther.

That the Scarlet Witch is the villain once again, highlights a lack of originality. Also, where the zombie plague came from is not addressed and how she benefits from that is also a mystery. While the animation is scintillating and the cast is definitely high-value, it can’t hide the fact that the whole premise of the story is vacant.

Oh, and don’t forget that the zombies don’t seem hungry – just destructive. One of the joys in the original comic mini-series was seeing Spider-Man agonize over the fact that he just ate Aunt May and Mary-Jane. Despite his hunger, he still had that Peter Parker bad luck. He had to eat them because that was his nature.

But there is none of that with these zombie ex-heroes. In fact, there’s nothing. No personality and they seem anonymous. They are directed, can’t think for themselves and have no desire to eat – only to obey.

This is the big contrast: in the comic, the focus was mostly on the Marvel Zombies. Since they still retained their intellects and personalities, there was a perspective on how the former heroes were dealing with their current undead states. Bruce Banner couldn’t Hulk out unless he was hungry and his appetite played havoc on Banner’s alter ego state.

Being a zombie also affected Wolverine’s powers. Hey, those adamantium claws extend by muscles and ligaments. When they’re decaying because his healing factor is useless (he’s dead, remember?), it doesn’t bode well for Wolvie’s effectiveness.

If you’re going to make a show based on a comic that had a specific story angle, why would you mess that up? Ego in creating something new?

Well, that didn’t work for Star Trek: Discovery.

I wanted to enjoy this show, but it’s so far from the original source that comic fans stand to be disappointed and new fans dissatisfied by the lack of story and originality.

Clearly Marvel/Disney isn’t hungry enough to make this show a serious draw. Using the same banner label as the comic would suggest that they produced something similar. But in this case, they’re just taking advantage of the brand recognition.

Yeah, no hunger here. Should have just let it rest in peace.

Marvel Zombies. Directed by Bryan Andrews. Starring (voices) Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Hailee Steinfeld, Tessa Thompson, Dominique Thorne, Iman Vellani, Todd Williams. Marvel Zombies streams on Disney Plus on September 24.