Marvel: Zombies has always been a bit of an odd duck. It’s not canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it doesn’t quite belong to What If..? either. The new animated series was originally developed as a movie, but since Marvel only has the rights to make TV shows about Spider-Man, not movies, it was split into a four-episode miniseries. And because it’s a zombie story, no hero is safe — anyone, from Captain America to the newly-dubbed “Blade Knight” is in danger of turning into the undead.
The end result is a four-part adventure that focuses in on one of the best additions to the MCU in recent years: Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. As the protagonist of the series, we see the story through her eyes, but we also see her teamed up with two key players in the future of the MCU. It may just be a test to see if there’s an audience for what fans have been clamoring for: the Young Avengers.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel: Zombies.
When we first meet Kamala in Marvel: Zombies, she’s surviving the zombie apocalypse alongside two other heroes: Riri Williams and Kate Bishop. These three have technically never been in the same room in canon, but they are usually the top three names mentioned when the topic of a Young Avengers project is brought up. Kamala has actually met Kate Bishop in the last scene of The Marvels, where Kamala brings up the possibility of a next-gen Avengers squad, but since then the only appearance of this trio has been in an immersive dinner show aboard a Disney cruise ship.
Is it possible these three are paired up to see how the audience would react to them as a super-squad? There are plenty more options for a Young Avengers, but most of them are busy: Yelena’s got the New Avengers, Billy Maximoff is having adventures with the ghost of Agatha Harkness, and Kamala mentioned she had “feelers” out to Cassie Lang but hadn’t heard back. These three are probably the most similar of the candidates, though. They’re all about the same age, all next-gen versions of previous Avengers despite not being blood-related, and, to get a little meta with it, they all starred in Disney+ original series.
It’s clear that Kamala is the future of something in the MCU. Beyond her recruitment efforts in the main canon, Thor even calls her an Avenger later in Marvel: Zombies. If this really is Marvel floating a test balloon to see if these three could hold their own in a project, then even in animation it’s a rousing success. Kamala, Riri, and Kate may not have met in person, but it feels like they’re best friends — and teammates — already.
