Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Movies, TV | Tagged: marvel zombies, what if

Marvel Zombies: Winderbaum on Spinoff, "What If…" Episode Connecting

Marvel Studios' Brad Winderbaum offered some insights into just how much Marvel Zombies connects back to the What If...? Season 1 episode.

Even though Marvel Television's What If…? will wrap up its run later this month with its third season, the (undead) spirit of the animated anthology series will "live" on in October 2025 with the premiere of the four-episode, TV-MA-rated animated spinoff Marvel Zombies. Of course, one of the first questions that gets asked in these situations usually has to do with whether or not new viewers would need to go back and watch something that previously aired to understand what's going on. Marvel Television and Marvel Animation head Brad Winderbaum addressed that during an interview with EW in support of What If…? Season 3 hitting Disney+ screens on December 22nd with the first episode (with subsequent episodes dropping daily).

"If you remember that zombies episode from season 1 [S01E05: "What If… Zombies?!"] – that is very much like the part 1 prologue for this giant, epic event that is coming out next year," Winderbaum shared, adding that those who need a refresher or haven't watched it yet should "definitely" do it before October. But what if you prefer to dive right in without doing any "homework"? As Winderbaum sees it, the series works on two different levels – you could watch just the four episodes and enjoy the story that's laid out, or you could watch the What If…? episode for more of a "bigger picture" understanding of what's going down.

"It ties right in. It is the same universe. If you've never seen that episode of 'What If…?' you do come at the universe from a different angle. So you could just watch the four episodes of 'Marvel Zombies' coming in completely blind because it does tell its own story. But if you do know that episode of 'What If…?' and what happens in it, it does connect entirely to that episode," Winderbaum explained.

Marvel Zombies: What We Know So Far…

Early on, we learned that the "What If…?" spinoff series would include zombie versions of Ghost, Abomination, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Okoye, and Captain America. On the not-quite-so-dead side, we have the non-zombie versions of Jimmy Woo, Kate Bishop, Yelena, Shang Chi, and Ms. Marvel. The official cast rundown includes Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, Iman Vellani, and Todd Williams.

During a Disney fan event, Winderbaum screened a preview of the series that spotlighted Wenwu, Shang-Chi, and Katy fighting against zombies. While The Ten Rings save a bitten Shang-Chi from the infection, Wenwu isn't so lucky. After a five-year time jump, we witness Shang-Chi and Katy using The Ten Rings in a fight against some biker Skrulls that look like it was taken directly from the "Mad Max" playbook – wasteland and all. Except with a little Journey thrown into the mix.

Produced by Marvel Animation, Disney+'s Marvel Zombies stemmed from a teleplay by Zeb Wells and was directed by Bryan Andrews – with the story written by Wells and Andrews. Wells, Andrews, Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt serve as executive producers – with Danielle Costa and Carrie Wassenaar producing.

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