Releasing a show like Marvel Zombies on the cusp of Halloween feels like a no-brainer. It’s not the first mature Marvel series to premiere on Disney+ — that honor goes to Daredevil: Born Again — but its gnarly action, along with its spooky subject matter, make it perfect for an October release. Marvel itself seemed to have the same idea last year: when it unveiled its upcoming slate, Marvel Zombies was scheduled to stream on Disney+ in early October. But with the show’s first full-length trailer comes a brand-new release date.
Instead of October 3, Marvel Zombies will now premiere one week earlier, dropping all four of its episodes on September 24. It’s a strange pivot for a show that, if anything, should be premiering closer to spooky season. But if its trailer proves anything, it’s that Marvel Zombies will satisfy no matter when it premieres.
Marvel Zombies is technically a spin-off of the franchise’s main animated show, What If...? Its first season introduced the concept of a zombie plague affecting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in an alternate universe, and Zombies takes that concept and runs with it. As in What If, the Avengers have turned into zombies, leaving not-quite Avengers like Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel), Yelena Belova, and Kate Bishop to save the world. Marvel Zombies is largely a platform for younger superheroes — Ironheart and Spider-Man will also feature in the series — but it’s also set to (finally) introduce a highly anticipated hero: Blade.
The MCU can’t quite figure out what to do with Blade in live-action, but Marvel Zombies knows exactly how to feature the character. In this parallel world, Blade is also Moon Knight — and he doesn’t hesitate to slice and dice the zombified Avengers in his path. Marvel Zombies already looked pretty great before his introduction, with a surprising amount of gore done up in the weightless What If style. But after months of watching Marvel struggle to bring Blade to the big screen, his appearance in Marvel Zombies might have just made the show an essential watch. By that logic, it couldn’t come sooner.
