Episode 1

"He discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own..."

The subject of this article comes from an alternate universe connecting to the main timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Episode 1

Season

1

Writer

Teleplay by:
Zeb Wells
Story by:
Bryan Andrews
Zeb Wells

Director

Bryan Andrews

First Aired

September 24, 2025

Running Time

38 minutes

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Next →
Episode 2

"We honor her with every breath we take."
"No. We will honor her by taking this planet back from the dead."

―Red Guardian and Yelena Belova

Episode 1 is the first episode of the first season of Marvel Zombies.

Synopsis[]

Lone survivors face an unforgiving world of horrors.

Plot[]

As the Earth has succumbed to Zombie Apocalypse, Kamala Khan, Riri Williams, and Kate Bishop struggle to survive in the desolate New York City, accompanied by F.R.I.D.A.Y. in an Iron Man armor. As they scavenge through the empty city for supplies, a Quinjet suddenly crashes near them. They check the Quinjet for gear and find a zombie corpse in the cockpit with a strange object in his stomach that Khan has to extract.

Having escaped from the zombie Hawkeye's ambush, the group returns to their hideout and Williams finds out that the object they found was an Intergalactic Transmitter that has been shrunk down. She elaborates that the transmitter was created by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a part of the Project Lifeshot, a last-ditch effort to save the world. Bishop suggests going to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Ohio and find a way to activate the transmitter, but Williams is against the idea, claiming that their chances to survive are too low. Bishop and Khan both insist that they must take a chance to save the world and Williams relents.

Meanwhile, a horde of zombies led by Okoye surrounds the fallen Quinjet before Hawkeye stumbles on them. Despite being infected, Okoye retains her consciousness, and manages to take Hawkeye under the control of their queen.

Khan, Williams and Bishop take Uhura and drive through the United States wasteland, finding more and more destruction along the way. Suddenly, an unknown storm forces the group to speed up as energy blasts descend from the skies. As Uhura crushes and the group has to fight off zombies, they find out that the destruction was caused by Ikaris fighting against an infected Captain Marvel. As they attract unwanted attention, the situation takes a turn for the worst as Captain Marvel kills Bishop, to Khan's utter horror and despair. Williams gets bitten by a zombie, although she manages to delay the infection with a self-made serum and instructs F.R.I.D.A.Y. to take Khan with the transmitter to safety.

Despite Khan begging her to let her help Williams, F.R.I.D.A.Y. takes her further from the battlefield and returns to Williams, while Khan is forced to run away. As Ikaris and Captain Marvel catch up to her, Khan falls on the ground, but Blade Knight manages to rescue her just in time. Khan sees a dream of herself back in Jersey City, with Williams and Bishop alive and well, but soon gets attacked by a terrifying red figure and wakes up. Blade claims that her friends were gone, despite Khan refusing to believe that, but he also offers to help Khan get to Ohio and use the transmitter to save the world.

On their way to Ohio, Blade explains that he was chosen by Khonshu after his previous avatar was lost in the outbreak. Khan and Blade eventually reach the North Institute and find it surrounded by a zombie horde, but they act strangely docile and show no signs of aggression. Getting into the facility, they find out that it is occupied by Melina Vostokoff, Yelena Belova, and Red Guardian, and that they use the Red Dust to control zombies and use them as protection. Vostokoff analyzes the transmitter and discovers that its purpose is to reach out to the Nova Corps in outer space as S.H.I.E.L.D. believed them to be capable to revert the outbreak.

However, they cannot use the transmitter due to the planet's atmosphere being full of interference after what happened in Wakanda. S.H.I.E.L.D. initially planned to launch the transmitter into space and use it there, but the base was overrun by zombies before the project was launched. Khan is still determined to do whatever it takes and save the world, before Blade informs the group that a horde are coming. Vostokoff pulls up the cameras but finds only Okoye there, to which Blade explains that she is a scion of the Queen of the Dead, Wanda Maximoff. Okoye gathers a zombie army that includes Hawkeye, Abomination, Ghost, and Captain America.

As Red Guardian is excited to face off against Captain America, Vostokoff orders the Black Widows to take positions and prepare to defend the facility. The zombies charge through a minefield and the guarding zombies, as Abomination launches Captain America into the facility. Khan, Blade and Belova rush to suppress the horde, while Captain America crawls in through the vents and attacks Red Guardian. He manages to kill Captain America after a brief struggle, while Abomination rushes in through the defenses and Ghost takes out the Black Widows. Vostokoff then orders everyone to escape from the base and stays behind to delay the horde, despite Red Guardian begging her not to.

While others run away, Vostokoff scrambles to use the Red Dust and take Hawkeye, Ghost and other zombies under her control. However, Okoye then confronts her and with Maximoff's powers, she reclaims the control over the horde and impales Vostokoff with her Vibranium Spear. Ghost then pursues the others and tries to attack them but falls victim to Blade, who chops her into pieces after a brief duel. Khan, Blade, Belova and Red Guardian then take motorcycle to escape from the facility, being chased by Abomination, but the tunnel collapses and they manage to get away.

Belova is heartbroken to see the facility going down in flames, realizing that Vostokoff is gone, while Red Guardian comforts her. He says that they should honor Vostokoff by continuing to live, but Belova insists that they must honor her by retaking the world from zombies. She tells Khan that they must take the transmitter into space and use it to contact the Nova Corps and save the world. Khan appreciates it and notes that she has no ship, however, Blade assures them that he knows where to find one.