‘Marvel Zombies’ Showrunner Says Disney Plus Series Intentionally Avoids References, Homages To Original Comics
Far from surprising from Marvel Studios at this point but disappointing nonetheless, Marvel Zombies showrunner Bryan Andrews has confirmed that the upcoming Disney Plus series will feature zero references, homages, or even easter eggs related to its original comic book source material, primarily as he intended for the series to “be its own thing”.
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Andrews, who previously directed a number of episodes across both seasons of What If…?, spoke to his approach to the undead spin-off during a recent interview given alongside Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum to the Nerdist‘s Eric Diaz.
Asked by his host if there were “any moments from the comic you definitely wanted to replicate” in the four-episode miniseries, the showrunner admitted, “Not so much in this iteration of it.”
“There were a few things that we did as a nod to the comics back in the first season of What If…?, but once we had done that, then it’s like, ‘OK, all bets are off.’
“On this one, we just went for it. So, if we get a chance to ever do another round of Marvel Zombies? Then you never know what stuff we might homage and borrow from the comics a little bit. Just to acknowledge them. But this one pretty much seems to be its own thing, which is still cool.”
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As noted by Andrews, comic book throwbacks featured in the original What If…Zombies? episode include:
- T’Challa’s flesh being slowly harvested for sustenance by a zombified hero (Scarlet Witch in the animated series, Hank Pym in Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #2
- Wasp dying in giant form and being subsequently overrun by an undead horde (a fate that originally befell Galactus in Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 #5)
- Scott Lang being reduced, no pun intended, to life as nothing more than a floating-head-in-a-jar (His Futuruama-esque new look originally rocked by Hawkeye in Marvel Zombies 2 Vol. #1)
- Doctor Strange, as well as Thanos’ lieutenants Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian, being consumed a swarm of Zombie Wasp-directed bugs (A small taste of Sandman’s killing blow against the zombified heroes in Marvel Returns Vol. 1 #5)
- And Spider-Man’s last-minute, web-swinging rescue of Bruce Banner (his help originally given to Ash Williams in Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness Vol. 1 #1)
Adding to the director’s thoughts, Winderbaum further recalled, “Yeah, I think we definitely had the tone of [original concept creative duo] Robert Kirkman’s writing and Sean Phillips’ amazing art kind of set.”
“You know, it was on our minds a lot. Obviously, we love those books. But also we’re playing off the MCU, while the comics were playing off the classic 616 universe. So, the lore is different, and it’s a different set of rules. However, I will say that tonally, we really were trying to stay in that same vein.”
To this end, Andrews was later asked as to whether Marvel Studios had given him “a mandate at all on how bloody this show could be,” the showrunner explained, “Like, I don’t think it’s over the top. That was just a choice for us.”
“Kevin [Feige] was pretty much saying ‘You guys got this, just be rad.’ And so to our taste level, it’s like, “Yeah, we wanted it to be TVMA. And we don’t want to pull any punches.” But also, we don’t want to be gratuitous in that way. Like an adolescent that is just nerding out on the wrong thing and forgetting the storytelling. So we want there to be a good balance, you know? We want the shock value, but we also want the drama and the emotion as well.”
Consisting of four-total episodes, the entirety of Marvel Zombies is on track to rise from the grave this Wednesday, September 24th.
