Marvel Studios has thrived on uncertainty for much of its existence. With every movie, post-credits scene, and saga-spanning storyline, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ensured that fans remained on edge, eager to know more as the mysteries of the MCU unfolded before their eyes. Their uncertainty about where the story was going was the confirmation that they would return for future installments, simply because they needed answers.
However, that uncertainty turned into a bad thing when the Disney Plus shows launched. With a lack of clarity about whether any of the shows would be returning in those first few years, it made it hard to get invested in the ongoing storylines of their "first" seasons as it wasn't clear as to whether their characters would return. With shows like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we knew we would see those characters again in future MCU movies (and with Loki actually getting a season 2 renewal, we knew we would see him again too). But for the likes of She-Hulk and Moon Knight, three years on and there are still crickets about their MCU futures.
The good news is that the studio has changed its strategy towards television, and now one of its most beloved shows could be back for another season.
Marvel Studios reportedly moving forward with another season of Marvel Zombies
According to veteran industry insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios is moving ahead with a second season of Marvel Zombies. Now, if that isn't the best spooky news we've heard all spooky season, we don't know what is, but it goes without saying that this report is music to Marvel fans' ears.
While it's important to acknowledge that we should wait for Marvel Studios themselves to officially make a Marvel Zombies season 2 announcement before we get too excited about it, there is strength to this report in the fact that the buzz surrounding the animated series has been extremely positive since its debut... as has the buzz surrounding the prospects of a second season.
The series originally premiered on Disney Plus on September 24 as what we were expecting to be a four-part miniseries. Although it was a spinoff of animated series What If...?, it was created as a one-and-done project during the studio's wave of miniseries after miniseries era. With that in mind, the cliffhanger ending came as a bit of a surprise to just about everyone watching it.
Marvel Studios' Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation Brad Winderbaum has since revealed that the series is now part of the studios' new Marvel Television regime, meaning that it has the potential to return for future seasons. In an interview with ComicBook.com, he revealed that there are plans for more Zombies but that they need the fans to watch it in order to make that happen:
"Please, like, people have got to subscribe to Disney+ and watch this show. If that happens, they will get more. And we are excited. We’re ready."
To make things even better, it was subsequently reported that the series had exceeded the studio's expectations in terms of viewership as it remained in the Disney Plus daily Top 10 for a lot longer than expected, even landing in the No. 1 position in its first three days of release.
A Marvel Zombies renewal would reflect the studio's new approach to TV
If Marvel Zombies has indeed landed a season 2 renewal, it would highlight the studio's changing approach to TV. While shows were originally commissioned as miniseries - which would essentially serve as multi-episode mini-movies - they are now produced with the intention of becoming ongoing, long-running TV shows with the potential for future seasons.
We needn't look any further than Daredevil: Born Again, which has been renewed for two more seasons beyond its first, as well as various animated shows What If...?, X-Men '97, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which either have or are having multiple seasons too. The studio now wants to evolve Marvel Television into a separate arm of the MCU, still loosely connected through characters, but also ensuring that the projects remain their own thing.
After Agatha All Along found the same kinds of success that its parent series WandaVision found in 2021 simply for functioning as a TV show, it's clear that Marvel plans to invest in ensuring that its TV arm has something different to offer from its movies. And that's a wise approach as us TV fans prefer our TV to be like, well, TV.
It would be pretty awesome if Marvel Zombies - a show designed as part of the miniseries era - ended up getting a season 2 renewal, allowing it to be a part of the MCU's new TV era instead. Hey, with Hawkeye seemingly set to do the same and ongoing rumors about potential second seasons for Agatha and / or Ironheart, it's clear that anything is still possible in the MCU. We're just glad that there is a bit more certainty about the process this time around.