Earlier this summer, What If…? debuted and brought with it an entirely new world of multiversal storylines. The series ups the multiverse ante for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and presents viewers with alternate possible timelines, and all of it is seen through the eyes of The Watcher. One of the recent episodes of the Disney+ series showcased a world in which the mission to rescue Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man and The Wasp accidentally unleashed a virus that turned most of the MCU into zombies. This created zombie versions of many fan-favorite characters, including Thanos himself.
At its core, the art appears to take inspiration from the version of Thanos seen in Avengers: Infinity War – which makes sense, as that lines up with the timeline seen in the recent What If…? episode. Not only is he zombified, but he has all but one of the Infinity Stones, indicating that he’s potentially the most powerful zombified character in the MCU. However, this fan art adds some seriously gruesome gore effects to the character, making it clear that zombie Thanos is leaning close to an R-rating.
Whether or not a live-action adaptation of Marvel Zombies will ever happen remains to be seen. That said, the apparent popularity of the recent What If…? episode lends quite a bit of credence to the argument that a proper adaptation can and should come together. The introduction of zombies to the Marvel Cinematic Universe allowed numerous characters like Kurt and Happy Hogan to shine as they stepped into more prominent roles, and the addition of proper horror genre work to the MCU has largely proven effective. At this point, there’s no way of knowing if Marvel Zombies will ever be adapted to live-action, but What If…? has definitely sparked the conversation.
