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MARVEL ZOMBIES Creeps Up With a New, Earlier Release Date and Hardcore TV-MA Rating — GeekTyrant
Get ready, horror-loving MCU fans. Marvel Zombies is crawling out of the grave earlier than expected and it's bringing a gnarly, blood-soaked bite with it.
Marvel Animation's twisted What If...? spin-off officially premieres on Disney+ this September 24, moving up from its original Halloween-season drop. So, the four-episode undead thrill ride is just around the corner, and it's coming in hot with a TV-MA rating that promises no holds barred.
Collider recently spoke with Bryan Andrews, the show's director and executive producer, who revealed that Marvel Zombies was originally envisioned as a full-length feature film.
"We were thinking it'd be a movie, if like, 'Ooh, we should release it as a movie.' We should just do a movie," he said. "But there were some things that came up, certain issues that we just had to kind of, 'Oh let's break it. We'll have to break it up into four episodes.'"
Even though it ended up as a mini-series, Andrews still treats it like one complete, intense narrative. "So basically it's like a four-episode mini-event, like a film broke up into four parts, basically. It's one story. It's one throughline. A lot of insanity happens."
The show holds nothing back in terms of violence and gore, earning its R-rated feel. Andrews elaborated on what fans can expect from that TV-MA label.
"We did try not to be gratuitous about [language], but there's like, a couple key parts where someone does say something because it just fits. Like that's what I would say in that moment," he explained.
"So, I think the rating comes from the level of violence and or intensity of the moments that the characters find themselves in. And yeah, blood gets spilled, and we want to be able to see that."
While zombie hype isn't quite where it was during The Walking Dead 's heyday, Marvel Zombies is set to give the genre a badass superhero twist. If you remember the undead chaos in What If...? , you know this isn't going to be your average apocalypse.
Returning to their MCU roles are Elizabeth Olsen ( Scarlet Witch ), Awkwafina ( Katy ), David Harbour ( Red Guardian ), Simu Liu ( Shang-Chi ), Randall Park ( Jimmy Woo ), Florence Pugh ( Yelena Belova ), Hailee Steinfeld ( Hawkeye ), Dominique Thorne ( Ironheart ), Iman Vellani ( Ms. Marvel ), Hudson Thames ( Spider-Man ), and Todd Williams in a currently undisclosed role.
The show is directed by Andrews, with a script written by Zeb Wells. Executive producers include Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Wells, and Andrews. Danielle Costa and Carrie Wassenaar serve as producers.
Marvel Zombies is creeping up fast, just in time to kick off the spooky season with bloody superhero mayhem.
