Marvel Zombies Ending Explained

FULL SPOILERS up for Marvel Zombies!

All 4 episodes of the caller constricted bid Marvel Zombies are present disposable to ticker connected Disney+ – work IGN’s Marvel Zombies reappraisal – which means we tin afloat unpack the ending of this What IfI? spin-off.

And what an ending it was. It’s truthful bleak it makes the ending of Avengers: Infinity War look upbeat. “Point to the zombie movie that has a blessed ending,” arsenic enforcement shaper Brad Winderbaum enactment it to maine successful a caller interview. More from him later.

Marvel Zombies picks up aft the events depicted successful the 5th occurrence of What If…? Season 1, wherever Earth is ravaged by a zombie apocalypse conscionable arsenic Thanos arrives looking for the last Infinity Stone. Unlike successful Infinity War, though, Thanos – on with astir of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – is turned into a zombie. At the extremity of that episode, Bruce Banner/Hulk seemingly sacrificed himself by remaining down to conflict an evil Wanda Maximoff and her zombie service portion the surviving heroes escaped to Wakanda.

But Marvel Zombies reveals that’s not rather what happened…

Marvel Zombies Ending Explained

In Marvel Zombies, Episode 3, Kamala Khan, Blade Knight, Shang-Chi, Katy, Red Guardian, Jimmy Woo, Death Dealer, and Baron Zemo get successful New Asgard seeking the usage of an Asgardian spaceship truthful that Kamala’s transmitter tin nonstop a awesome for assistance to the Nova Corps. Once wrong the fortress walls, they observe Wanda, present successful her quality signifier contempt past being seen arsenic a zombie, is determination arsenic a impermanent of Valkyrie and Thor.

Wanda explains that implicit time, she utilized her powers to heal herself and sculpt reality. She says the Wakanda Event – wherever T’Challa sacrificed his beingness to destruct Thanos and his Infinity Stones – released monolithic energies from the destroyed Infinity Stones. Wanda claims she could harness those energies to heal the world, “but idiosyncratic stole it for themselves. They hoard it.” Kamala has seen this fig successful her dreams. Wanda says that she can’t decision him connected her own. She needs an army, “soldiers with the strengths of gods.”

But (shock!) Wanda deceives our heroes, fatally poisoning the Asgardians during a banquet and turning them into the latest members of her zombie horde. “Kamala, don’t beryllium afraid,” Wanda tells the young superhero. “Come with me. Together, we tin hole this.”

Kamala thinks Wanda wants the transmitter, but it’s really Ms. Marvel herself and the powerfulness she wields that the Queen of the Dead wants. By the extremity of the 3rd episode, the lone surviving heroes are Kamala, Blade Knight, Valkyrie, Shang-Chi, and Katy. Even the Mighty Thor appears to person perished portion holding disconnected Wanda and her zombies agelong capable for his comrades to flight successful a spaceship. Sadly, it turns retired the Nova Corps volition not assistance them and have, successful fact, quarantined Earth arsenic it poses a menace to the remainder of the galaxy.

In the play finale, the surviving Avengers are magically sent to Kamar-Taj wherever they are greeted by Spider-Man and Scott Lang (now conscionable a floating caput successful a solid helmet but capable to alert acknowledgment to Doctor Strange’s cloak). The sorcerers Rintrah, Sara and the London Master person provided them with shelter.

The sorcerers explicate that Bruce Banner isn’t dead. The Hulk was the lone being connected Earth whose signifier could withstand and clasp each of that Infinity Stone vigor and forestall it from destroying each life. He is nary longer Banner oregon Hulk but alternatively “a cipher, an anchor protecting energies that could marque oregon destruct worlds.”

Wanda yet has an service beardown capable to face Banner and instrumentality that infinite powerfulness from him. The sorcerers request each the assistance they tin get, truthful that’s wherefore they brought the Avengers to Kamar-Taj. They cognize it’s their past basal against Wanda.

During the last battle, Wanda tempts Kamala to articulation forces with her to assistance rob (let’s telephone him) Infinite Hulk of the vigor helium holds: “Kamala, assistance me. I’m trying to prevention you all. Can’t you see? … If you halt me, each this is for nothing. Would you person your friends dice for nothing? If you halt me, Kate and Riri would person died for nothing. You are unsighted to your ain salvation. If I can’t person you, possibly your friends can.”

That’s erstwhile a zombified Red Guardian, Kate Bishop and Riri Williams onslaught Kamala. As this happens, Infinite Hulk kills a zombified Thor. Then Wanda appears earlier Hulk and touches him, the 1 happening our heroes had to forestall her from doing. Wanda starts to sorb Hulk’s Infinite Energy. The Avengers and sorcerers perish trying to halt Wanda. Only Kamala remains.

Wanda erstwhile again adopts her quality guise to marque a last plea to Kamala: “We were meant to beryllium here. To extremity this together. … I’m excessively beardown for you, Kamala. But inactive not beardown capable to prevention us. I request you. … We tin hole this. You tin assistance maine bring them each back. Kamala, look around. The suffering. Save them. Take my hand. All volition beryllium made whole. You tin inactive prevention the world, similar you ever wanted.”

“I’m sorry,” Kamala sobs. “This can’t each beryllium for nothing.” Then she takes Wanda’s manus arsenic the Queen of the Dead declares, “And truthful the satellite begins again.”

One monolithic vigor burst aboriginal and Kamala awakens backmost location successful New Jersey. Her mother’s dependable calls to her that her friends are astatine the door. Kamala rushes downstairs to find her besties Kate and Riri, live and well. Kamala is beyond overjoyed to spot them, who person nary thought wherefore she’s truthful excited. Only Kamala has memories of the zombie apocalypse.

The 3 friends spell retired for boba, wherever Kamala rattles disconnected each the things she wants to bash next. While she’s checking retired a feline crossed the street, Kamala starts to spot abrupt bursts of zombies pulsing done her perceived reality. The mean radical she sees are, successful fact, inactive zombies.

A still-living Riri (remember, she injected herself with an experimental cause earlier successful the play earlier she appeared to perish) is battling zombies, calling retired to Kamala, telling her that nary of the normal, blessed beingness she’s seeing is real. Yes, it’s each a Wanda-fied illusion.

“Kamala, are you good?,” Kate asks. Kamala’s look is frozen. The surface cuts to achromatic for a moment. The last changeable of Marvel Zombies is simply a close-up of a hissing zombie Wanda.

Kamala Khan – who ever wanted to beryllium a superhero similar her idol Captain Marvel – has failed her friends and the world. The Queen of the Dead has prevailed.

Why Marvel Zombies Had to End That Way

“I mean, we were making a zombie movie, really. Point to the zombie movie that has a blessed ending,” Brad Winderbaum told IGN successful a caller interview. Indeed, the works of George A. Romero carnivore that out, opening with the grandaddy of each downbeat zombie movie endings, Night of the Living Dead.

Winderbaum said that from his archetypal conversations with bid creators Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells, it was ever the program for Marvel Zombies to beryllium a travel that ended with the protagonists losing.

“There were 2 things Bryan, Zeb and I talked astir aboriginal on, and that was that this was going to beryllium a zombie movie, and that meant benignant of a wide quest operation astatine times and a communicative astir survival,” Winderbaum explained. “And not just, volition these characters oregon won't they survive, but besides successful surviving, volition that alteration them and volition it corrupt them? And we pointed to immoderate of our favourite zombie movies wherever that is simply a cardinal theme.”

“Also, a batch of John Carpenter movies person that taxable arsenic well. They person a endurance element, but it's truly about, volition the idiosyncratic change? It's 1 happening to survive, but volition you past intact, mentally intact? So that was important to us. So the bleakness of the world, but besides the harshness of the ending was thing that was always, we were chasing from the beginning.”

Marvel Zombies: Season 2?

But is this truly the extremity of Marvel Zombies? Is determination a accidental that Kamala, with Riri’s help, could undo the harm she caused and topple Wanda successful a imaginable 2nd season?

“Bryan and I volition sometimes conscionable speech casually and commencement geeking retired connected the lore of this universe. I deliberation it's bigger than conscionable this story. I deliberation there's much stories to tell. There's surely characters connected the tract that we weren't capable to propulsion into this 1 adventure,” Winderbaum said.

A 2nd play could besides reply what precisely that concoction was that Riri injected herself with that allowed her to past the zombies. “We person ideas astir what that is,” Winderbaum hinted.

Winderbaum, who serves arsenic Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television and Animation astatine Marvel Studios, was candid astir the chances of a 2nd play for Marvel Zombies, leaving it up to the fans and viewers to assistance marque that happen.

“We would emotion to marque a Season Two. We could commencement close present connected a Season Two. But frankly, that depends connected radical subscribing to Disney+ and watching the series. In success, we will, the adjacent time we'll commencement moving connected it. So hopefully radical emotion it arsenic overmuch arsenic we bash and they ticker it.”

“We created an ending that was little about, ‘Well, you got to spot the adjacent one,’” Winderbaum added. “Bryan compares it to the extremity of John Carpenter's The Thing, wherever determination is an unfastened question inactive astatine the extremity of that story, adjacent though the communicative is concluded, and that was benignant of the vibe we were going for there.”

What did you deliberation of the ending of Marvel Zombies and the play overall? What would you similar to spot hap successful a 2nd play if that happens? Let america cognize successful the comments.