Marvel Animation D23 Panel Brings First Public Look At 'Eyes Of Wakanda', 'Spider-Man' And 'Zombies’ Footage
Oh hey Marvel Zombies, good to hear from you! You’re HOW long?
Marvel Animation was not part of the Disney Entertainment Showcase panel at D23, but frankly its own panel probably got more information out Saturday than Marvel’s segment at the former Friday night. The panel was hosted by ComicBook’s Brandon Davis and featured Marvel’s Head of Streaming, Television & Animation Brad Winderbaum, and What If…? and Marvel Zombies co-director Bryan Andrews.
Marvel Zombies is probably a good place to start, as this was the first time the series had been discussed at length or showcased since San Diego Comic-Con 2022, as it wasn’t even included in the sizzle reel at the What If…? special screening in December. The “hardcore” series is a TV-MA 4-episode miniseries created by Amazing Spider-Man comic writer and The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine co-writer Zeb Wells. Shang-Chi had long been known to be one of the surviving warriors, but the footage shown gives a sense of the circumstances he’s coming from. He, Katy, and Jimmy Woo are out in the streets fighting off hordes, on the verge of being overrun until Wenwu arrives armed with the Ten Rings. A particular kaiju-like zombie is killed when Wenwu uses the rings to the center of its forehead, a moment that truly justifies the rating. Wenwu tells his son to come with him, however he gets bitten and the infection spreads up his arm. Wenwu sacrifices himself and bequeaths the rings to Shang-Chi, who is then taken by the Death Dealer. Whisked away in a helicopter, the action jumps 5 years later, with Shang-Chi and the rest chased by a Skrull biker gang, while “Lights” by Journey plays on the radio. The Skrulls are fought off while Jimmy Woo sings along to the song. That the series took so long to see again might make sense, as it was stated it’s not coming out “for a while”. It very may well be early 2026 that the miniseries premieres, as we were also told it’s all things coming out in the next 12-18 months.
This was probably the most public event 3D CG series Eyes of Wakanda has had yet. Developer Todd Harris and executive producer Ryan Coogler took the stage here, explaining that the series would explore multiple eras of Wakanda history in an anthology manner over four episodes. Yup, it’s another miniseries. New character Noni will act as a “disruptor” to the hidden nation, attempting to expose some of its corruption. The series delves into the history of its secret and intersection with other parts of the world, such as K’un-Lun. Yes, K’un-Lun is back, with a new Iron Fist to boot. It is the mantle of their defender after all. The culture of that secret society will be explored. Coogler spoke about the direction of the series and how “Wardogs are challenged with keeping Wakanda secret. So we can go back and look at the sacrifice people made to keep that secret.”
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has long been known to be a Spider-Man universe loosely inspired by Tony Stark’s mentorship of Peter Parker (which has comics precedence). One of the first shots shown was the universe’s first major fork: the appearance of Norman Osborn instead, whom No Way Home established did not have a variant in the Sacred Timeline. As more details were revealed, the less it felt so MCU-adjacent, especially in its supporting cast. Creator Jeff Trammell revealed that Hudson Thames would be voicing this Peter after doing so for What If…? variants, while Colman Domingo is voicing Norman. New footage featured Peter arriving at Midtown High only to find another less friendly arrival as Doctor Strange fends off the interdimensional symbiote. Nico Minoru, typically of The Runaways becomes targeted by said symbiote, causing Peter to jump to defend but get bitten by a spider that also came through the portal. Five months later, Peter is taking down street-level thugs, one a boy with metallic boots for short bursts of super speed, another a cyber-bladed woman, with his own advanced tech but struggling in his prototype suit However, Norman calls to advise him on how to deal with them. The animation style is very comic-book-inspired with cell animation, with shots split into comic panels to evoke the experience of one. More cast was confirmed, namely Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln, Grace Song as Nico Minoru, Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius, Kari Wahlgren as Aunt May, and Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn.
As for the already-premiered shows, it was re-confirmed that season 3 of What If…? will be its last. The Sam Wilson Captain America and Monica Rambeau teamup we’ve previously seen in stills is a full Avengers assembly, with their teammates being Moon Knight (voiced by Oscar Isaac in their first appearance anywhere since the series), Red Guardian, and more. They will pilot giant mecha suits to fight off gamma monsters. Moon Knight will get a second scenario for himself (themselves), while Ironheart, Shang-Chi, resurrected Vision, and Agatha Harkness will also be explored. Harkness’s episode was revealed separately, with Winderbaum telling ScreenRant:
When you have an icon like Kathryn Hahn [and what she] has brought to the screen with Agatha, you just want to see more of her. So yes, there will be more Agatha in the future [of] the MCU, yes. She is in an episode of What If...? season 3 - I shouldn't say more, but it's one of my favorite episodes ever done, and it may involve the giant musical number, and she's just incredible, and we all want to see more of her.
X-Men ‘97 didn’t get much in the way of announcements, but footage shown revealed that they’ll be using the Frank Quitely-designed suits worn in the Grant Morrison-written run. In addition to what they set up with Bishop and Apocalypse respectively in the first season finale Havok, Polaris, and Danger will appear. Fired season 1 & 2 head writer Beau DeMayo noted on his Twitter “As with all costume changes, this decision was rooted in story for me and the themes Season 2 will explore.” He continued “Obviously, these suits have strong ties to Genosha and E is for Extinction”, alluding to the first major story arc during Morrison’s run encompassing his first issues New X-Men #114–116. While he obviously doesn’t know how much was blown up and torn apart after he was fired, he seemed assured by the divulged details that at least some of his creative vision and decisions survived.
Source: DiscussingFilm, Beau DeMayo (1, 2), ScreenRant