The Superheroes of the Marvel Universe can defeat anything. Throw anything at them, be it a sentient planet or a trickster god commanding an entire alien armada or even a purple-skinned megalomaniac with the power of the Infinity Stones, the Avengers always find a way to get back on their feet. Always!! That is what’s so great about the Earth’s mightiest heroes. They are pretty much unstoppable. So, is there any enemy that can actually be able to defeat them for good? How about a Zombie Apocalypse? The zombie outbreak has made many worlds bite the dust in the past. We have all seen it how unstoppable the virus can be. World War Z anyone? What if the zombie virus found its way into the Marvel Universe? What happens when the Avengers fight an enemy that they cannot see, hear or touch but could feel is everywhere around them? How do you defeat something that was made to be unstoppable? The virus has now found its way to the Marvel Universe and soon Earth shall tremble in fear, all thanks to one guy opening the lid. Presenting – Zombies are about to take over the Marvel Universe and one guy is to blame!
The Zombies are about to roar and growl again with Marvel Zombies: Respawn. The dead are now at Marvel Universe’s doorsteps and the biting disease will devour civilization alive. Marvel Zombies may not be a new thing but this time, the Zombie outbreak, that was defeated and banished in earlier storylines, is coming back with a vengeance.
The cover page of the Marvel Zombies: Respawn shows the zombie versions of Deadpool, Captain America and Wolverine with their rotting flesh and hungry mouths held high. Artist InHyuk Lee promises to the fans that the dead will rise and walk again. The writer has now revealed the cause of the next Zombie Outbreak and why the heroes need to be scared. This time, the Zombies are coming imbued with the Power Cosmic. They are going to be stronger than ever before. The X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and literally every other major Superhero team will have to face the brunt of the assault.
And who do we need to thank for this? It is Galactus – the Devourer of Worlds. The guy’s legendary hunger is about to get even more insatiable as he takes on the role of Zombie Galactus. Just how much flesh would a Zombie Galactus eat given the fact that regular Galactus’ hunger could only be quenched by harvesting a whole civilization?
Here is the official description of the upcoming story arc:
When Galactus’ corpse appears at the edge of Earth’s solar system, the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four investigate. Too late, they discover that Galactus’ body is now the vessel of an interstellar terror, which one-by-one transforms Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into the universe’s most terrifying predators! As our heroes try to escape the super-powered, cannibalistic aberrations that were once their friends and family, will any survive? And even if they do, can they hope to protect Earth from the infestation that has already claimed half of the known universe? Don’t miss the FIRST ISSUE of this terrifying new vision of the classic Marvel tale!
The Devourer of Worlds has had several core character changes in the Marvel Comic book Universe. He was once turned into the Life bringer, an entity that creates life instead of destroying it after the Champions, a newly formed superhero group consisting of Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, Miss America, Black Panther and Spectrum, forced him into entering a machine that changed his biology. Though he was later made to turn to his original role of killing planets that served as a good way to see Galactus in a different light for the fans!
Galactus is also no stranger to the zombie virus. In another issue of marvel Zombies, the virus has changed pretty much every living being on Earth into a flesh eating maniac. When Galactus comes to end the saga of Earth and put an end to this world’s misery, he is in for one hell of a surprise. The zombies manage to overwhelm Galactus and started to feast on his flesh, while Galactus is still breathing. That’s right! Even Galactus – the Devourer of Worlds is no match to the Zombies. The guy is literally eaten alive.
As the Zombie superheroes keep eating the Galactus flesh, each Zombie that feasted on Galactus is now imbued with the Power Cosmic. The now Cosmic powered Zombies then decide to spread the bite and joy to other planets. It is via the Power Cosmic that the Zombies take over the universe and soon branch off to other universes and dimensions. Marvel Zombies was such a celebrated and much-needed story arc that Marvel keeps bringing them back from time to time, to spice things up of course.
This storyline takes the flesh craving saga a step further. The storyline begins with Galactus’ half eaten corpse found straddling and hoping through the void of space. It soon reaches the very edge of our own Solar System when the Marvel Superheroes decide to investigate the matter. But it is already too late. Galactus is already dead. His rotting body though, carries one huge surprise. The dead Galactus’ body is now Patient Zero for an upcoming Zombie Outbreak. The body is heavily infested by the Zombie Virus and soon, one by one, each superhero that comes into contact with the cosmic corpse is cursed to endure an eternal lifetime of cannibalism.
The story does not end there. The superheroes that manage to keep themselves from being infected are now the prey. They are hunted down by the infected superheroes that have developed an insatiable hunger. The terror of the Zombie Universe is set loose. Allies, who were once friends, now turn on each other, looking for meatier sources of sustenance. But what about the future!! The infected now possess the ability to stay alive anywhere (since they are zombies). And that means even though the non-infected manage to escape, it is only a matter of time before the zombie virus finds its way to Earth and everything is lost. What is even more terrifying is that the zombie infestation has already conquered half of the universe before the story arc begins. So Earth does not only have to fight zombie superheroes but save its skin from unknown threats that might spring out of anywhere and from any direction.
The story line’s plot direction is akin to that of a science fiction thriller of a post-apocalyptic genre. Fans of the Zombie genre will love this issue. As we said, Zombie Galactus is not a new thing in the Marvel Universe. But this time, they have turned Galactus into a corpse that is acting as a vessel for the Zombie Virus. Remember – the zombie dead never die. So how is Galactus dead? Is he even dead or is he just waiting for the perfect moment to open his eyes and let loose a mother of all rampages across the solar system? The title of the issue itself gives us some clues. Marvel Zombies: Respawn could mean that the story arc is about the return of the zombies. A lot of the previous story elements could be returning this time around as well.
Comic books and zombies mix really well together. Take for example the Walking Dead series. DC Comics has already tried their hand on the superhero-zombie genre with DCeased, a critically acclaimed and well received story line. DC has also done a take on the dead rising, with their acclaimed Blackest Night event. Marvel Zombies is also a pretty celebrated genre. Marvel is banking on the popularity of their Zombie Superheroes.
Marvel Zombies started on the shoulders of artist Leonard Kirk and the legendary writer Robert Kirkman. Marvel Zombies: Respawn will be banking on Phillip Kennedy Johnson this time. Let us see if he can recreate that same magic again. Marvel Zombies, we are waiting for your growl.
