Following the faceplant and failure of “The Marvels” last November—Marvel’s lowest-grossing film of all time and their first big bomb—pundits were seemingly writing an early epitaph for Marvel Studios. But three Marvel cycles later, the super-well-received “What If…?” season two in December, the much-better-than-anticipated reception to the live-action “Echo” series in January, and the glowing reviews of “X-Men ’97 (currently sitting at 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes currently, read our review), things definitely appear to be on the upswing for Marvel.
With “X-Men ‘97” debuting on Disney+ this week, Marvel Executive Brad Winderbaum, the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, has been the face of the series. Having shed new light on the upcoming animated shows “Eyes of Wakanda” and “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” in a Men’s Health interview, Winderbaum also pulled back the curtain a little bit on another upcoming Marvel animated series, “Marvel Zombies.”
While there is still no timeframe for its arrival—and given that Marvel Animation has already unveiled most of its 2024 line-up, it may not come until 2025—Winderbaum did say the show was “coming down the road” to Men’s Health, and in a separate interview with IGN, the exec told the outlet that the series would be intended for a mature audience.
“In terms of more mature animation, yeah, we’re making a ‘Marvel Zombies’ show right now that is pretty intense. That’s for sure a TV-MA show,” he revealed. “And again, it’s trying to honor the comics. And what was so great about the comics was it’s not pulling its punches. That’s certainly what we’re going for on that project also.”
“Marvel Zombies” was initially an episode told within season one of Marvel’s animated series “What If…?” but proved to be so popular that Marvel spun it out into its own limited series. It would also be its second TV-MA show to date, following the live-action “Echo,” which had the same rating earlier this year.
Finally, Winderbaum spoke a little bit about two more animated shows arriving this year: season three of “What If…?” and “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” and teased some potential crossover between animated series coming soon.
“There’s also a third season of What If…? with Bryan Andrews leading the charge, whose been there from the beginning. And without spoiling anything, that’s where we start to feel crossover potential with animated projects,” he revealed
“We’ve got ‘Marvel Zombies’ coming down the road. And [showrunner] Jeff Trammell’s ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,’ which I’m going into a sound mix for in a couple of hours,” he continued. “It’s so great. He and his team over there, they know how to make you invest in characters. It’s a very high school, ensemble-driven show with Peter Parker at the center. It’s just so much fun.”
That’s quite the hefty update on the animated series. With “X-Men ‘97” on Disney+ right now, that’s three more series coming this year (“Eyes Of Wakanda,” “What If…?” season three, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”) and a possible fourth in “Marvel Zombies.” Stay tuned for dates and details on the rest of the series as they’re released.