‘Avengers: Endgame’ remains one of the most celebrated achievements in the superhero genre. It was a cinematic event that closed out over a decade of interconnected storytelling with heart, spectacle, and finality. Yet even Marvel knows that the film, as iconic as it is, isn’t perfect.
And now, years later, the studio appears to be acknowledging one of its biggest criticisms through the new ‘Marvel Zombies’.
‘Marvel Zombies’ Fixes Thor’s Most Controversial ‘Endgame’ Storyline
For six years, fans have debated the handling of Thor’s grief in ‘Endgame’. While the movie gave him one of the saddest arcs, a god crushed by failure, it undercut that pain by turning his despair into a running punchline. His weight gain, depression, and self-neglect were often treated less as a tragedy and more as comic relief. It was a tonal gamble that some found charming. However, many viewed it as dismissive of real emotional fallout.
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Enter ‘Marvel Zombies’, a darker reimagining of the events during and after ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’. In this animated series, Thor returns to Earth with Groot and Rocket, a callback to his iconic, electricity-charged arrival in Wakanda. However, this time, their triumphant entrance comes with a gruesome twist: they’re wiped out by a zombified Thanos. The trauma is immediate, heavy, and devastating.
Just like in ‘Endgame’, Thor spirals. He’s consumed by sorrow, detached from the world. But here’s where Marvel takes a different and long-overdue approach. Instead of mocking his grief, ‘Marvel Zombies’ treats it with gravity and respect. There are no fat jokes, no gags about alcohol abuse, no forced humor. Thor is broken, and the show allows him to be. When he eventually snaps back into focus, it’s not through humiliation or external ridicule, it’s through courage.
He sacrifices himself to save the show’s survivors from Wanda Maximoff. His death is noble, meaningful, and utterly serious. It’s not that ‘Endgame’ didn’t understand Thor’s pain; it just struggled to depict it. ‘Marvel Zombies’, with its updated take on the same emotional arc, shows a more mature understanding of loss. The change may not be a direct apology, but it’s certainly an acknowledgement: some things shouldn’t have been played for laughs.
‘Marvel Zombies’ Delivered The Multiverse Crossover The MCU Has Been Missing
What’s even more surprising is that ‘Marvel Zombies’, despite being animated and set in an alternate continuity, is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious MCU crossovers since ‘Avengers: Endgame’. The Multiverse Saga has been heavily criticized for feeling disjointed and lacking the connective punch that defined the Infinity Saga. Despite dozens of shows and movies, there’s been no real Avengers-level event in between phases.
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Even ‘Secret Invasion‘, which had all the ingredients for a massive crossover, ended up small, quiet, and underwhelming. ‘Marvel Zombies’, meanwhile, gives fans something they’ve been missing: true first-time interactions between characters from across the MCU’s evolving roster. It brings together heroes who haven’t even crossed paths in the main timeline. Then there are the pairings fans didn’t know they needed.
Even through chaos and cannibalistic danger, the series takes the time to explore dynamics that the main films have been too crowded or too cautious to try. And that’s not even mentioning its villains. The undead threats include zombified versions of Wanda, Thor, Captain America, Okoye, Abomination, and others. This raises the stakes to an almost ‘What If…?’ meets ‘Infinity War’ level of danger. When you tally the cast, human and undead, ‘Marvel Zombies’ ends up being the biggest crossover the MCU has produced since ‘Endgame’.
