Season 1 Episode 5 “When The Avengers are infected by a zombie plague, surviving heroes search for a cure.”
What I Liked?
1. The episode begins in a timeline where Hulk is falling from space and crashes into Doctor Strange’s building, very similar to how he did in Infinity War, however, when Bruce appears, no one is around, he goes out and walks into the street and meets Ebony Maw and Cull who prepare to take the fight to Bruce, Bruce tries to turn into the Hulk in which the Hulk refuses.
2. A portal opens up and an Iron Man repulsor pops out and shoots Maw in the back of the head, knocking down Maw, Wong and Doctor Strange appear through another portal with Iron man, and Bruce Watches on as the Avengers fight Cull and Maw, but only before realizing what is actually going on… Zombies. This opening scene was so great, a different way to begin an episode but it was amazing.
3. The Marvel Zombies try their best to eat Bruce but Bruce is saved by Doctor Stranges Coat, which in turn Bruce gets saved and rescued by Wasp. The Watcher begins to explain why this timeline is the way it is and it all stems from, once again, Hank Pym messing with the timeline and traveling into the Quantum Realm to retrieve Janet, however, she’s infected and this is what causes the beginning of the end. We get to see that The Avengers try to stop the infected by a tiny Hank Pym bites Captain America on the neck and this is how the Avengers fall.
4. The surviving heroes head to a train station to fix a train to take them to New Jersey, while in the train station, Okoye suggests that the heroes split up, this is when the group is attacked by a zombified Hawkeye and Falcon, Hawkeye turns Happy into a zombie and he goes after Sharon Carter, Sharon has already been shot with an arrow and barely manages to kill Happy, Bucky and Okoye deal with Falcon while Spider-Man begins pulling the train. Another scene which was amazing, while it didn’t show the zombie bites etc, it was very dark and gritty which I Loved.
5. This next point was when the survivors made it to the camp in New Jersey where they find Vision who’s putting out a beacon, when they get ready to leave, Bucky offers to go find a Quinjet in which Vision gets a sinister/worried look on his face, Bucky while searching a dark building, shoots two bullets of a panel of glass which has a zombie behind it, this is a zombified Scarlet Which. This is where the episode took a darker more sinister turn, we come to learn that Vision has been luring people here to be fed to Wanda. *mind blown*
6. After finding an injured T’Challa, the survivors make an escape but not before a zombified Wanda attacks them, Bucky now armed with a gun and Captain America’s shield, tries to hold her off but she throws him away, presumably dying. Bruce gets bit by a zombie but Hulk saves him, Spider-Man, T’Challa, and Scott Lang’s heads fly off to safety in Wakanda.
7. The huge cliffhanger at the end of the episode, man, I NEED MORE. We got to see a zombified Thanos arrive on this Earth with the full Infinity Stones in the glove, how can they leave us with this?
What I Disliked?
01. My only dislike was the pacing of the episode, it felt rushed, it felt that scenes were over quickly, I get that the episode is 30 minutes but I don’t know, this episode felt so fast compared to previous episodes, they need to be longer so we, the fans can explore the timelines more, get more information and see more characters.
Favorite Moment
My favorite moment came on the train ride to New Jersey. We got to see a zombie Captain America on the train which infects Sharon Carter, Bucky arrives and has an insane fight with zombie Captain America, while throwing a zombie Sharon Carter on the floor, we then see Wasp fly into Sharon’s mouth, while Bucky catches the shield thrown by Steve and Bucky throws it back, slicing Steve in half, Bucky becomes the new Captain America. Sharon gets exploded by a normal-sized Hope but Hope gets scratched by Sharon, causing her to go on and sacrifice herself to make sure the survivors got to the campsite.
Standout Character
I chose to give this to Peter, not Spider-Man, but Peter Parker, this episode showed to us that at a young age, he’s been through a lot, losing his parents, Uncle Ben, Tony, and the Avengers, Hope, his speech about how his Aunt May used to tell him to smile was very powerful.
The Verdict
Overall a really great episode but ultimately let down by the episode’s pacing for the story, it felt rushed, it felt like the episode scenes were moving insanely fast compared to previous episodes for What If…?, however, the dark, gritty, and sometimes fun story about Marvel Zombies, the characters that survived, and the action were all top-notch for what it was.
Rating: 9.5/10
Photo: What If… Zombies?
Rating
Story - 9
Action - 9
Characters - 10
Entertainment - 10
9.5
Amazing
Overall a really great episode but ultimately let down by the episode's pacing for the story, it felt rushed, it felt like the episode scenes were moving insanely fast compared to previous episodes for What If...?, however, the dark, gritty, and sometimes fun story about Marvel Zombies, the characters that survived, and the action were all top-notch for what it was.
