Marvel Zombies didn't hold back when it came to killing off some fan-favorite characters in its four-episode run on Disney+. The latest Phase 6 animated project continues the storyline from the fan-favorite What If...? Season 1 episode, where most Marvel heroes turned into zombies due to a virus from the Quantum Realm brought by Janet van Dyne to Earth, causing chaos in a matter of days.
Set five years after the episode's wild ending, where the Avengers lose, which showcased a horrific showdown between Scarlet Witch and the Hulk, a key group of survivors featuring heroes from the MCU's Phase 4 and 5 band together in a last-ditch effort to save humanity. As expected, not everyone made it out alive when Marvel Zombies' final credits rolled.
Directed by Bryan Andrews, Marvel Zombies has a stacked cast of MCU favorites, which includes the likes of Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, and Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch. All four episodes of Marvel Zombies premiered on Disney+ on September 24, 2025.
Who Dies in Marvel Zombies - How & When They Get Killed / Zombified
Episode 1
Kate Bishop
A prominent casualty in Marvel Zombies Episode 1 is Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop. The four-episode crossover event began with a Young Avengers team-up featuring Kate, Riri Williams, and Kamala Khan as they decide to leave Kate's family mansion to venture into the unknown to find more survivors to help them figure out the mini beacon they retrieved from a crashed SHIELD quintjet.
During their journey, they unexpectedly encountered a brutal clash between a zombified Captain Marvel and Ikaris (which is the first Avengers vs. Eternals fight), and they got caught up in the middle.
Kate did a reckless move by shooting Captain Marvel with one of her trick arrows, but it didn't work. As a result, Carol blasted Kate with her photon beam, which instantly killed her.
Melina Vostokoff
After Kamala Khan was saved by Blade (Moon Knight) during her escape from the rampaging Captain Marvel and Ikaris, they sought refuge in a bunker filled with former Red Room agents led by the trio of Melina Vostokoff, Yelena Belova, and Red Guardian.
Scarlet Witch controlled her army to suddenly launch an attack in the Widows' base, leaving Melena to sacrifice herself so that Kamala, Yelena, and the others could escape.
Episode 2
Wenwu
Marvel Zombies opened with a flashback to the zombie outbreak in San Francisco, the city where Shang-Chi and Katy were based. Wenwu and the Ten Rings arrived to save Shang-Chi, but they were overwhelmed by the zombie horde.
Wenwu saw Shang-Chi's arm get bitten by one of the zombies, which is why he decided to transfer the power of the Ten Rings onto him to save his life. As a result, Wenwu was killed by the zombies, and Shang-Chi had no choice but to leave him behind.
Some Skrulls
Fast forward five years later and Shang-Chi, Katy, Jimmy Woo, and the Death Dealer (alongside some other mercenaries) are seen thriving and trying to survive.
They encountered some Skrulls who were trying to steal their stash of resources, but Shang-Chi and Katy (with the use of their Ten Rings) easily subdued the shapeshifting aliens, which instantly killed them.
John Walker
In the Marvel Zombies universe, John Walker is Baron Zemo's loyal enforcer in the Raft - a place that became some sort of haven for the remaining survivors.
After Zemo decided to take Kamala, Shang-Chi, Yelena, Red Guardian, Katy, Death Dealer, and Jimmy Woo into the Raft, it seemed that it served as a beacon for the Scarlet Witch to target the floating prison. As a result, she summoned Namor to attack the Raft, which resulted in tons of casualties.
While John tried to save his boss, Namor ended up killing him, much to Zemo's horror.
Yelena
The main crew of survivors (led by Kamala and Shang-Chi) tried to escape the Raft, but they were on the verge of being overwhelmed by Namor and the zombified Talokans.
Yelena, who was still grieving from Melina's death, decided to take matters into her own hands by staving off Namor and the Talokans' attack, buying enough time for Kamala's team to escape.
She poured one last glass of alcohol before accepting her fate, as the final shot shows the Raft sinking down to the depths of the ocean, which seemingly confirms her fate.
Episode 3
Thanos (via flashback)
Marvel Zombies Episode 3 finally revealed what happened in What If...? Season 1, Episode 5's ending after Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Scott Lang went to Wakanda to confront Thanos.
Even as a zombie, Thanos had unimaginable power that he managed to completely defeat Thor, Rocket, and Groot in one single blow with the use of the Power Stone. With the combined might of the five Infinity Stones (Black Panther still has the Mind Stone), Thanos fought in an epic clash against T'Challa after he turned Wakanda inside out, which led to the exposure of the city's molten vibranium core.
T'Challa, with all his might, pushed Thanos to Wakanda's molten core, essentially killing the Mad Titan and saving the universe (for now).
Black Panther - T’Challa (via flashback)
Black Panther's final act of sacrifice in Marvel Zombies Episode 3 happened after he pushed Thanos into the abyss full of molten vibranium core.
T'Challa knew that he would die, but he still decided to do it in order to save the world. As Spider-Man pointed out, his last words were, "Wakanda Forever."
Rocket (via flashback)
Marvel Zombies Episode 3 had an Avengers: Infinity War callback when Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrived in Wakanda to try and defeat Thanos.
However, the main difference here is the fact that they were easily defeated by Thanos after he used the full might of the Power Stone to completely kill Rocket. His skeleton was even shown in the end to cement his tragic end.
Groot (via flashback)
Groot was one of the unfortunate casualties in Zombie Thanos' rampage in Marvel Zombies Episode 3. He died alongside Rocket due to being directly impacted by the full might of the Power Stone.
Death Dealer
Death Dealer became a loyal ally of Shang-Chi's team after Wenwu's death and even unexpectedly became Jimmy Woo's best friend.
Unfortunately, Death Dealer died after one of the Asgardians-turned-zombies attacked him in New Asgard. He was overwhelmed by the zombie horde following Wanda Maximoff's betrayal and full admission of her plan to turn Asgardians into part of her army.
Jimmy Woo
Seeing Death Dealer's death in Marvel Zombies was more than enough reason for Jimmy to completely lose his will to live. Jimmy eventually succumbed to the Asgardian zombie horde, which led to his brutal death in Episode 3.
Zemo
As the leader of the Raft, Zemo (a returning MCU villain in Phase 6) used his intelligence and skills as a master strategist to build a peaceful and thriving community in the floating prison. However, it all went downhill after Namor's underwater invasion.
Zemo became a reluctant ally to Shang-Chi and Kamala's ragtag group of survivors. However, he died during the Asgardian zombie horde's rampage after one of the Asgardians punched him through his chest.
Red Guardian
Still reeling from Yelena's death, Red Guardian lost his will to move forward, which is why he joined the Asgardians' feast brought by the Queen of Sokovia (who later turned out to be the Scarlet Witch, aka the Queen of the Dead).
Red Guardian ate a good chunk of the food donated by Wanda, which was later revealed to be zombie flesh. This was enough to turn Alexei into a zombie, which broke Kamala's heart because she had become close to him through their short journey together.
Thor
After losing to a zombified Thanos, Marvel Zombies revealed that Thor lost his will to live and fight, with him being in self-exile in New Asgard.
However, after seeing Wanda's betrayal and her act of turning every Asgardian left into zombies, it was more than enough for him to awaken from his slumber and help Kamala and her team escape.
Unfortunately, the combined might of the Scarlet Witch and the zombie army was too much for him. Thor used his remaining power to stave off the Queen of the Dead's attack while telling Kamala that she's an Avenger now, similar to how Tony Stark told Peter Parker that he is now Earth's Mightiest Hero in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.
Episode 4
Moon Knight/Blade
During the last stand for Earth, a chaotic battle ensued between the planet's last line of defense against Scarlet Witch and her zombie army to protect the Hulk from Wanda's vengeful goal of taking the Infinity Stones' power for herself.
Blade (as Moon Knight) died after he tried to stop zombie Thor from attacking the Infinity Stone-powered Hulk. The Bifrost energy killed Blade, ending his life in an instant.
Rintrah
Rintrah, who acted as the team's leader, tried to stop Scarlet Witch's efforts but the full might of her Asgardian zombie army was too much for him to handle, leading to his tragic death.
Sara Wolfe
Sara Wolfe spearheaded the charge of Earth's remaining defenders in the final battle against the Queen of the Dead. However, she instantly died after a zombie Thor summoned the Bifrost directly at her.
London Master
While the London Master tried hard to defend the Hulk from the zombie army, it was too much for him after he, alongside Sara, was instantly killed by Thor during his arrival in the climactic clash between the two opposing armies.
Shang-Chi
Despite his valiant effort, Shang-Chi died in Marvel Zombies Episode 4 after getting bitten by zombie Jimmy Woo. The rings couldn't save him because his shoulder was the one that was bitten.
Katy
Katy, Shang-Chi's best friend, was also overwhelmed by the zombie horde in Marvel Zombies Episode 4, leaving her to fight off the zombified Death Dealer alone after Shang-Chi succumbed to the virus.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie died in Marvel Zombies Episode 4 after being stabbed in the stomach by zombie Okoye. Despite being a trained warrior, it seemed that the fighting took a toll on her, and she was eventually killed in the end.
Spider-Man
Although Spider-Man survived the events of What If...? Season 1, Episode 5, the web-slinging hero did not end up living to fight another day in Episode 4. Peter used his skills to overcome a giant Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, and Hope van Dyne, but it was too much for the friendly neighborhood hero.
The final shot shows Spider-Man about to get eaten by Hope, and there is a good chance that he is dead.
Scott Lang
Paul Rudd reprised his role as Scott Lang in Marvel Zombies, returning to aid the remaining heroes despite only having his head throughout.
While Scott managed to evade the zombies by using Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation, the final battle was too much for him since he was eventually overwhelmed by the zombie horde. One scene shows Scott being pulled back into the ground by zombie Asgardians with seemingly no chance of escape this time around.
Maybe: Hulk
After absorbing the powers of the Infinity Stones following Thanos' death, the Hulk became Scarlet Witch's primary target since she wanted all the power to herself to help rebuild the world. The heroes tried hard to defend the Hulk from the zombie horde, but it was too much to handle.
While the Hulk defeated Thor after a hard-fought battle, Wanda used it as the opening to finally grab hold of Hulk and retrieve his powers for her nefarious goals. Although Hulk was defeated, there is a chance that he is still alive since it is hard to kill such a powerful character as him. Wanda could be using him as her secret weapon in the future, or she could also be using the Hulk as a main vessel for the power of the Infinity Stones alongside her and Kamala.
Maybe: Kamala Khan
At the center of the story of Marvel Zombies is Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan. While it initially started as a Young Avengers mini team-up between her, Riri Williams, and Kate Bishop, Kamala forged her own journey with one goal in mind: asking for help in trying to send a beacon to the Nova Corps to help defend Earth.
However, it was revealed that the Nova Corps was aware of what was happening on Earth and declared the planet a quarantine zone. As a result, Kamala regrouped with her team of ragtag survivors and decided to defend Hulk from Scarlet Witch's zombie army.
Unfortunately, Kamala was overwhelmed, but she was kept alive by the Scarlet Witch because the ending showed her mind was trapped in a hex-like reality where everything was fine.
A seemingly alive Riri Williams was trying to snap her back by trying to send a message that everything she was seeing in that reality was all fake, but Kamala doesn't seem to know how to get out of her predicament.
