Written by Edwin Francisco
Marvel Zombies in the What If…? series felt a one-off; however, it turns out that Marvel Studios is actually planning a live-action version. Could Marvel Studios nab Zack Snyder for it?
Writer Mark Millar has seen several movies based on his written work, and Marvel Zombies could be another.
He seems to have gotten some information regarding Marvel Zombies. He said in his newsletter:
“(If my sources are correct) a little live-action Marvel Zombies further down the line, but you never heard that from me.”
Mark Millar wrote and introduced Marvel Zombies in Ultimate Fantastic Four No. 21-23, which was released in 2005.
The comic was illustrated by Greg Land and inked by Matt Ryan.
The Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards accidentally went into another universe where zombies existed.
A spin-off series called Marvel Zombies was written by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and illustrated by Sean Phillips.
Several spin-offs came out of it; furthermore, it crossed over with The Army of Darkness.
Live-Action Marvel Zombies Planned, But Could Zack Snyder Be Involved?
Image: Marvel Comics Group
In the recent What If…? Disney Plus animated series, the zombie outbreak was caused by trying to find Janet van Dyne, Hank Pym’s wife.
When he found her, she was already infected with a virus from the Quantum Realm.
He got infected himself and spread the virus on earth.
We’ve known that Marvel Studios is actually planning to get into several types of genres including horror for quite a while now.
We’ve even reported that Marvel Studios plans to release them on Hulu instead of Disney Plus to be able to maintain the quality of gore and violence.
It is planned that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the first that will introduce horror into the MCU.
Moreover, it will trickle down to other Marvel movies and TV shows.
The Midnight Suns is just one of the planned shows that will focus on horror.
Snyder was considered to lead Ghost Rider, but wouldn’t he be an interesting director to choose for this particular genre?
After all, his Netflix movie Army of the Dead even showed intelligent zombies.
That is is perfect since in Marvel Comics, the super-powered zombies are able to talk and are actually smart.
Marvel Studios hadn’t gotten Snyder to the negotiation table yet for Ghost Rider.
Live-Action Marvel Zombies Planned, But Could Zack Snyder Be Involved?
Image: Marvel Comics Group
That was mentioned in Geekosity Editor-in-Chief Mikey’s Sutton original report on April 18. He also scooped Marvel Zombies before.
At the time, some were puzzled as to how Snyder’s dark style would fit into the MCU.
The existential gloom of What If…? shows that Marvel Studios isn’t afraid of the dark.
There’s a home for Snyder should both parties mutually agree.
The zombie genre has been popular in general.
Marvel Studios is known to use popular story lines to use in their live-action films.
It’s possible that the animated zombie episode is more like testing the waters.
Note that Marvel Studios has been making sure that all their stories are cleared legally to be made into movies.
Creators are signed off and paid in advance to prevent lawsuits flying.
For example, Marvel Studios discussed with Jim Shooter about his Secret Wars creations.
It may still take a while before we see any of this become a reality.
But with Marvel Studios’ pace of making movies and TV shows, it’s not impossible to see this come into full production in the future.
Related: Spider-Man Animated Series In MCU Could Follow What If…? On Disney Plus
