Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? Episode 5, "What If... Zombies!?"
Marvel Studios has released a character poster for their latest episode of Marvel's What If...? that depicts a zombie Doctor Strange in a fighting stance. The animated series is the studio's first foray into animation since the initial launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008. Thanks to the episodic nature of the show's premise, What If...? is able to reimagine key moments in the MCU's chronology that stray from the canon (a.k.a. "Sacred") timeline. The latest episode, titled "What If... Zombies!?," gave a glimpse of the Marvel Universe in the wake of a zombie infection outbreak.
"What If... Zombies!?" takes heavy inspiration from the famous comic series Marvel Zombies, written in the mid-2000's by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. While the episode doesn't adapt most of the bleaker aspects of Kirkman's run, it does borrow a handful of ideas, such as a sedated T'challa (Chadwick Boseman) being harvested for zombie sustenance – though in the comics, it's a zombified Hank Pym that holds the Black Panther captive, rather than the Vision (Paul Bettany) as depicted in the show. Coincidentally, zombie Doctor Strange plays a relatively minor role in both the episode and the original comics run as well.
Despite the character's smaller role, Marvel Studios has unveiled a character poster for zombie Strange that highlights the undead incarnation of the Sorcerer Supreme. The zombified Strange poses as if ready to cast a spell. Check out the full poster below:
Fans of the character may notice that Strange's iconic Cloak of Levitation is missing from his shoulders. This is, as the episode reveals, due to the fact that the sentient cloak chooses to side with the living rather than remain loyal to the undead sorcerer. Because each episode is limited in its run-time, small details such as this go a long way in fleshing out the various multiversal realities we see brief glimpses of throughout the show.
With episode 5 now released, Marvel's What If...? has passed the halfway point of its first 9 episode season. Despite a rocky premiere, which attempted to cram an entire feature-length film's worth of content into 30 minutes, recent episodes seemed to have hit their stride telling more original stories. The series is at its strongest when it takes a key concept and thoroughly explores it, rather than rehashing old material with a slight twist. Hopefully the remainder of the season keeps up the momentum from the more recent episodes.
