Introduction: A Tale of Survival and Witchcraft
The Marvel Zombies animated series, a spin-off from the popular What If...? episode, delivers an effectively creepy and very gory tale of survival in a world overrun by the undead. The four-episode miniseries leans heavily into its TV-MA rating, offering a story filled with bloodshed, surprising cosmic implications, and a central role for Wanda Maximoff, the Queen of the Dead.
This breakdown will cover the entire story, episode by episode, scene by scene, exploring all the Easter eggs, key plot points, and MCU connections you might have missed.
The Origins: A Refresher on the 'What If...?' Outbreak
This series is a direct continuation of the story from What If...? Season 1, Episode 5. In that alternate universe, Hank Pym’s journey into the Quantum Realm to rescue Janet van Dyne unleashed a zombie apocalypse. Janet had contracted a "quantum virus" that spread across America in hours, infecting most of the Avengers.
The original episode saw a group of survivors—including Spider-Man, Wasp, Bucky, and others—fight their way to Camp Lehigh in search of a cure. There, they discovered Vision was keeping a zombified Wanda Maximoff alive by feeding her pieces of T'Challa. In the end, Hulk stayed behind to fight Zombie Wanda while Peter Parker, T'Challa, and Scott Lang's head escaped to Wakanda, hoping to use the Mind Stone to create a cure. They arrived only to find the kingdom overrun by a zombified Thanos, already wielding five of the six Infinity Stones. This new series picks up where that cliffhanger left off.
Episode 1: The New Survivors and Project Lifeshot
The series begins with a shot of Central Park, where a hexagon shape appears in the lens flare—a clever visual nod to the hex from WandaVision and a hint at the illusory nature of reality under Wanda's control. We are introduced to a new team of young survivors: Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Riri Williams (Ironheart), and Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), accompanied by a remote-piloted Iron Man armor operated by Tony Stark's AI, FRIDAY.This story is set five years after the initial outbreak in 2018, meaning these versions of Kate, Riri, and Kamala became heroes under the duress of the apocalypse, before the events of their respective Disney+ series. The overgrown, desolate New York City is reminiscent of landscapes from I Am Legend and The Last of Us.
After a Quinjet crashes nearby, the team investigates and retrieves a tiny, advanced subspace transmitter from the body of the infected S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot. The device, shrunken by Pym Particles, was part of a desperate S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative called "Project Lifeshot," designed to send a transgalactic signal for help. The group decides to take the transmitter to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Ohio, but their journey is cut short by a cataclysmic battle between the Eternal, Ikaris, and a zombified Captain Marvel.
In the ensuing chaos, Kate is struck down by an energy blast, and Riri is bitten while defending her friends. In her final moments, Riri orders FRIDAY to get Kamala and the transmitter to safety. Kamala is then rescued by a mysterious stranger: Blade Knight, a version of the vampire hunter who has become the new avatar of the moon god, Khonshu.
They arrive at the North Institute in Ohio, a former Hydra base from the Black Widow film, now a sanctuary for Yelena Belova, Alexei Shostakov (Red Guardian), Melina Vostokoff, and other liberated Widow agents. Melina has repurposed Hydra's mind-control technology to control a perimeter of zombies for defense. However, the base is soon besieged by the Queen of the Dead's army, led by zombified versions of Okoye, Hawkeye, Captain America, Ghost, and Abomination. The battle is brutal, and both Melina and Yelena sacrifice themselves to allow Kamala, Blade, and Alexei to escape with the transmitter.
Episode 2: Road Warriors and the Sunken Fortress
This episode opens with a flashback to Outbreak Day in San Francisco, presented as an impressive, unbroken long take. We follow Shang-Chi and his friend Katy as they navigate the initial chaos, which was inadvertently amplified by Pym Particles leaking from Hank and Janet's lab, creating giant-sized people and zombies. They team up with FBI agent Jimmy Woo, but are soon cornered.
Shang-Chi's father, Wenwu, arrives with the Ten Rings organization to rescue his son. Shang-Chi is bitten, and in a final act of love, Wenwu transfers the Ten Rings to him. One ring acts as a tourniquet, halting the spread of the infection, while the other nine become his weapons. This shows that certain forms of magic can resist the quantum virus, a key setup for Wanda's abilities.
Five years later, Shang-Chi and Katy lead a Mad Max-esque convoy of survivors. They eventually reach a checkpoint for a sanctuary known as "The Raft," where they meet up with Kamala's group. The Raft, the floating super-prison from Captain America: Civil War, has been taken over by Baron Zemo, who now rules it as his own city. For a short time, the survivors find peace, but it's a trap. Zemo has been luring heroes to The Raft to periodically feed them to the zombified inhabitants of Talokan, led by an undead Namor, as a form of tribute.
A savage battle erupts within the sinking fortress. Kamala manages to defeat Zombie Namor by expanding her hard-light fist inside his head, but the team suffers more losses, including John Walker and Jimmy Woo. Yelena also sacrifices herself to ensure the escape pod can launch, going down with the ship.
Episode 3: The Wakandan Incident and the Queen's Feast
This episode begins with a prologue that finally shows the conclusion to the original What If...? cliffhanger, narrated by Peter Parker. In Wakanda, the surviving heroes—Peter, Scott Lang's head, and T'Challa—face Zombie Thanos. After a brutal fight where Thor, Rocket, and Groot are killed, Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet. T'Challa makes the ultimate sacrifice, tackling Thanos into Wakanda's molten vibranium reactor core. The resulting explosion of infinity energy creates a radiation barrier around the planet, explaining why the transmitter couldn't send a signal.
In the present, the survivors from The Raft arrive at New Asgard. It’s not the picturesque town from the films, but a sunless dungeon built into cliffs for protection. A hostile Valkyrie initially turns them away, but grants them entry after Khonshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) speaks through Blade. Inside, they find a massive feast, but something is wrong. Thor sits silent and broken on his throne, and the food is provided by the "Queen of Sokovia"—Wanda Maximoff.
Wanda claims she was infected but used her powers to heal herself. It's a lie. The entire feast was a trap; the food was made of zombie parts, and the Asgardians begin to turn. Wanda reveals her true, zombified form, explaining she needs an army with the power of gods to achieve her goal. A chaotic battle ensues. Zemo is killed, and Alexei is infected and left behind. Thor awakens to make a final stand, holding Wanda off while the others escape on Valkyrie's ship, the Commodore.
Episode 4: The Final Battle and the Shocking Ending Explained
In space, the team finally uses the transmitter to summon the Nova Corps. However, the Corps wasn't coming to help; they were already there to enforce a planetary quarantine, declaring Earth "condemned." They open fire and destroy the Commodore. Just as the heroes are about to perish, they are saved by sling ring portals, finding themselves in Kamar-Taj with Peter Parker, Scott Lang, and the surviving sorcerers.They learn the truth about the "Wakandan Incident": the sorcerers sent Bruce Banner to absorb the raw infinity energy that was consuming the planet. Now, he is no longer Hulk but a meditative, zen-like being known as the "Anchor," protecting energies that could make or destroy worlds. Wanda and her horde are marching on their location to seize this power.
The final battle is an epic confrontation over the ruins of Paris. Infinity Hulk easily dispatches waves of zombies, but Wanda's forces are relentless. She unleashes her ultimate weapons: the zombified Avengers, including Giant-Man, the Wasp, and a terrifying, red-lightning-wielding Thor. The heroes are overwhelmed. Valkyrie, Blade Knight, and many sorcerers are vaporized. Hulk defeats Zombie Thor but is left exhausted. Wanda seizes the opportunity, teleports to Hulk, and absorbs his infinity energy.
As her friends are being destroyed, Kamala decides to surrender, believing it's the only way to end the suffering. She joins her hand with Wanda's, merging her hard-light power with the Red Witch's as Wanda declares, "And so the world begins again." The 'House of M' Illusion
Kamala awakens in her bedroom to the sound of her mother's voice. She finds Kate and Riri alive and well, and they go out for boba tea as if the apocalypse never happened. However, clues reveal this reality is fake: there are no posters of her idol, Captain Marvel, on her wall, and her friendship with Kate and Riri was forged in the apocalypse, not a normal life.
The illusion begins to glitch, and she sees flashes of the zombie reality. In these flashes, she sees Riri, who is confirmed to have survived her bite in episode one. Riri has mounted an armored blaster on her infected arm, much like Tony Stark used the arc reactor to save himself, and is trying to communicate, saying, "Kamala, I've hacked the signal."
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