Summary
Footage forMarvel’s upcoming animated seriesMarvel Zombieshas been shown at D23, offering a first look at Shang-Chi’s return, 3 years after his solo movie. Shang-Chi’s appearance in the show alongside Katy (Awkwafina) was confirmed back in 2022.Marvel Zombiesalso features the return of other Shang-Chi characters and other MCU heroes.
The footage features Shang-Chi fighting hordes of zombies alongside his father, Wenwu a.k.a. The Mandarin, who sacrifices himself as Shang-Chi is bitten. The Ten Rings save Shang-Chi’s life, before a time jump to 5 years later. In an apocalyptic future, Katy and Shang-Chi fight a Skrull biker gang in aMadMax-style sequence. The footage shown at D23 confirmed that Shang-Chi - with his zombified arm protected by the Rings - Katy, and Jimmy Woo are the main characters of the upcoming show.
The footage also featured the return of Death Dealer, the high-ranking warrior who died inShang-Chi. The series also features similar animation toWhat If…?,which included a zombie episodein its first season. Marvel Animation has not yet confirmed a release date forMarvel Zombies, but revealed that it will consist of four episodes,will have a TV-MA rating(the second afterEcho), and will release on Disney+.
Marvel Zombies: Release Date, Cast, Story & Everything We Know
Continuing from a popular episode of What If…?, Marvel Zombies reimagines the MCU as being overrun by a zombie plague. Here’s what we know about it.
Shang-Chi Is Set For 2 MCU Appearances Before His Live-Action Return
During Marvel Animation’s D23 panel, the studio confirmed that Shang-Chi would also return inWhat If…?season 3. Simu Liu will return to voice the character, alongside other first-time characters like Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight and Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart. It’s unclear what Shang-Chi will be up to in the upcoming season, but there are a few teases from the footage, such as an episode where Moon Knight controls an Iron-Man-style mech suit.
While it’s great to see Liu’s hero return in two more projects,there is still no update on when he will return in a live-action project. Three years after the first film’s premiere, Marvel still hasn’t confirmed thatShang-Chi 2is in development. Liu has said it’s happening, but Marvel Studios remains quiet.
IfShang-Chi 2isn’t announced soon, his next appearance will likely be inAvengers: DoomsdayorAvengers: Secret Wars. Shang-Chi has already encountered Avengers members, and Marvel needs to answer how the Ten Rings factor into the Multiverse Saga after theShang-Chipost-credittease.Shang-Chiis one of Marvel’s best success stories post-Endgame, and it’s good to see the studio finally taking advantage of that, albeit in animated form.
Marvel Zombies
Cast
Released on Disney+, Marvel Zombies is the continuation of Marvel’s What If…? episode 5, where an animated version of the MCU is overrun by zombies.
