Marvel Zombies review – does the What If spinoff deliver?

Marvel Zombies Ep. 4

For those waiting news on the second seasons of Ironheart, Moon Knight, Echo, Hawkeye, Secret Invasion, Agatha All Along, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, the ending of Marvel Zombies has to be frustrating. If Marvel Studios wouldn’t follow up other series some of which had some fairly significant cliffhangers, what is a reasonable expectation for Marvel Zombies?

Given that unpredictable nature, why make the season finale so vague? Let’s backtrack on the rest of the episode.

The Nova Corps chasing Valkyrie’s ship made no sense since they are actively retreating. And wouldn’t breaking formation to chase them open up the universe for a potential breach? The whole point of a blockade is to keep the lines intact not go chasing after one distraction because they didn’t leave fast enough.

While the ship explodes, Kamala uses her powers to keep everyone safe. This is solely for the purpose of Valkyrie to give her an attagirl: Look at you saving all of our lives. Let’s count how many times Natasha or Wanda needed someone to endlessly praise them for being a good teammate? When Tony Stark kept patting himself on the back it was portrayed as him being endlessly obnoxious. These moments are providing that same feel.

As her power fades, they get teleported to Kamar Taj where Rintrah, Sara and The London Master explain that Hulk took all the residual infinity energy after the stones were destroyed. He’s keeping the energy that could harm the world into himself despite needing a gauntlet to take it in before, but sure. Apparently, Hulk was Wanda’s endgame all along going after Kamala if she was really after The Hulk?

Wanda brings her zombie army. Hulk politely punches and kicks them instead of using all of that (highly coveted by the most powerful character on the show) infinity energy to just wipe out the threat all at once?

It’s amazing watching the heroes in this final battle. The Thunderbolts have been made to be a huge deal and not one of them is in this conflict. Katy has somehow against all odds survived longer than far more interesting characters and random characters like Rintrah, Sara and The London Master have to play a major part?

Wanda brings all the fallen heroes/characters like Yelena, Alexi, Jimmy Woo, Death Dealer and even Zombie Thor to stop Hulk and Kamala. While he gets some pretty cool moments including slicing Hank Pym Ant-Man in half, Blade Knight gets killed by Zombie Thor. Rintrah gets skewered. Shang Chi gets bitten. Valkyrie gets stabbed by Zombie Okoye and things aren’t looking good for Scott’s head and Spider-Man. On the plus side, Katy is still going strong!

With literally all hope seemingly lost it’s hard not to blame Kamala for taking Wanda’s hand. Side note: if Marvel Zombies is to be believed, Kamala is one of the most important and powerful characters in the MCU. So why has she only been in one series and a movie?

Wanda says the world has begun again. Kamala wakes up to her mother telling her that Riri and Kate are waiting for her. It was all a dream. Does Kamala even know what Word Up magazine is, or would her hipster attitude demand she was well versed?

While reconnecting with her BFFs, Kamala starts seeing random breaks from reality. In an extended one, Riri appears and tries to warn her that it’s all fake. The real question is will we get the payoff to this or Flash’s warning to Batman first?

Taking this approach for the finale was a bold choice. By comparison, Marvel Studios has already announced Season 3 of Daredevil and Season 2 hasn’t even aired yet. You’d think this kind of ending would immediately be followed by some announcement that this isn’t the end of the story. As Ironheart and numerous other MCU shows would attest, a cliffhanger season finale does not ensure the story will continue.

Rating: 5 out of 10