Why Zombie Scarlet Witch Has Become 'The Dead Queen' In 'Marvel Zombies'

After what has seemed like a long wait to some, the MA-Rated animated series Marvel Zombies is set to drop on Disney Plus on September 24. A spin-off/sequel to the popular episode 'What If.. Zombies?!' from the first season of What If..?, the series is being touted as a four-part special event, following a group of Earth's surviving heroes as they battle an army of the dead, including zombie-fied versions of most of the original Avengers.

The zombie army will be led by a Zombie Scarlet Witch, known here as the Dead Queen. Elizabeth Olsen will return to voice this new version of her character. Many of the Zombies in Marvel Zombies are depicted with red eyes, marking them as under Wanda's control. This was not the case in 'What If.. Zombies?!', so some fans are questioning how she has morphed into the Dead Queen.

Let's take a look back at how we got to this point.

The origin of the Marvel Zombies

In 'What If.. Zombies?!' the zombie outbreak is born via a timeline divergence during the events of Ant-Man and The Wasp. While attempting to rescue his wife, Janet Van Dyne, from the Quantum Realm, Hank Pym discovers that she has been infected by a Quantum virus, aka this world's Zombie virus. Janet infects Hank, who then leaves the Quantum Realm, turns, and begins spreading the virus. While responding to the crisis, The Avengers are also infected.

While many of the zombies are your typical mindless hordes, those that had powers, special skills, or equipment as a human retain the ability to use them as a zombie. Which brings us to when we first meet Zombie Wanda.

"Baba Yaga.. the Witch Is Here"

Most Zombie Apocalypse stories focus on a ragtag group of survivors trying to make their way in the new world, and 'What If.. Zombies?!' was no different. In the episode, the survivors' main goal is to reach Camp Lehigh, where they believe a cure is being developed. Once they get there, all they initially find is Vision.

At first happy to see their old friend, things take a dark turn with the reveal that there is no cure. Vision could not bring himself to kill the infected Wanda, and has instead kept her confined to Camp Lehigh, with the promise of a cure luring survivors to use as her food source. T'Challa, now missing a leg, is shown to be a victim of this scheme. Wanda escapes her confinement, and Vision, guilt-stricken, gives up his own life in the hope that the survivors can have a real cure made with it. The survivors escape, but lose The Hulk, Bucky, Okoye, Kurt along the way, leaving Zombie Wanda still at large.

How Wanda became the Dead Queen

So, how did Zombie Wanda get from the end of 'What If.. Zombies?!' to ruling the Zombie Army as the Dead Queen in Marvel Zombies? Well, we may have to dive into a bit of lore from the original 'Marvel Zombies' comics, combined with events from the main MCU 616 timeline. In the alternate universe of the'Marvel Zombies' comics, many of Marvel's greatest heroes become infected with The Hunger, a mysterious condition that causes them to crave human flesh. However, they retain their powers, and after feeding, temporarily stabilise and gain sentience, even regretting their actions (Peter Parker is horrified to realize that he devoured Aunt May), until the Hunger inevitably strikes again.

By comparison, the Zombie-fied heroes in 'What If.. Zombies?!', appear mostly mindless aside from the use of their powers or equipment.. at least at first.

Soon after Vision's sacrifice, the Zombie Wanda Maximoff discovers his body, and actually seems distressed by the loss. In fact, it is after Vision's death that she fully unleashes her powers on the survivors.

In the main MCU timeline, it is Wanda's grief and pain over the loss of Vision that unlocks her full power as the Scarlet Witch for the first time, leading her to unintentionally take over the town of Westview and the minds of its residents.

While the alternate universes depicted in What If..? do not always directly correlate to the main MCU timeline, a few have similar or equivalent events. Therefore, some now speculate that Zombie Wanda retains enough sentience to be aware of and grieve Vision's death. This grief may be what drives her to take control of the Zombies as the Dead Queen, seeking revenge on the survivors for the loss of Vision.

If she does have a greater level of sentience than initially believed, this would also explain why Elizabeth Olsen is returning to voice the Dead Queen for Marvel Zombies as opposed to the generic monster vocal effects used in What If..?

We'll know more when Marvel Zombies hits screens on the 24th of September. Check out the trailer below: