History Recap / WhatIfS1E5WhatIfZombies

* AnArmAndALeg: When Bucky finds T'Challa, the latter is short a leg from Vision's machinations of slowly feeding him to the undead Wanda.

* BadassInDistress: Black Panther ends up being overwhelmed by the zombies on the Golden Gate Bridge alongside the rest of the Avengers, which prompts Okoye to go to the States to rescue him. The surviving heroes later find out that Vision rescued T'Challa from certain doom...only to capture him and chop off his leg to feed to Zombie Wanda.

** This isn’t the first time [[Series/TheWalkingDead a character]] played by Creator/DanaiGurira survived a ZombieApocalypse.

* FallenHero: Many including Iron Man, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Wong, Hawkeye, and the Scarlet Witch after they turned into zombies. Vision, however, was worse than any of them as he chose to sacrifice helpless survivors to keep Wanda's hunger sated and even kept T'Challa a prisoner to feed Wanda pieces of the hero.

* DeathIsGray: Vision dies as soon as he rips the Mind Stone from his head, his body turning gray before it hits the ground.

** The ending arguably includes this as well as Zombie Thanos being in Wakanda doesn't really make sense given the Mind Stone isn't there.

** One of the zombies attacking Hope looks a lot like director Creator/KevinSmith. There's also a zombified civilian on the Golden Gate Bridge who eerily resembles Gordon Freeman, the main protagonist of the VideoGame/HalfLife series.

** One of the zombies attacking Hope looks a lot like director Creator/KevinSmith.

* AbsenteeActor:
** Despite their rather prominent roles in the films this episode is based on, several characters are completely absent, including War Machine, Ghost, Bill Foster, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive.
** Both Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy also fail to appear in this episode, despite how integral to the plot of ''Infinity War'' they were. Although this could be partially justified due to them still being in space during the episode's events, the absence of Thor, Rocket and Groot is still mysterious since they arrive on Earth rather shortly after forging Stormbreaker.

* AdaptedOut: Most of the cosmic elements from the Marvel Zombies comic are entirely excised here, with the virus never infecting any space-based heroes (though it does get Thanos and his forces). The virus is also changed from originating in space in favor of it coming from the Quantum Realm instead.

** Hope becoming Giant Woman and performing a HeroicSacrifice helps the survivors get into Camp Lehigh without being wiped out. Unfortunately, being killed by [[FleshEatingZombie zombies]] predictably turns Hope herself a giant zombie, thus making the group's escape from Lehigh significantly harder.

** The Hulk once again performs a ClimacticBattleResurrection, like in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.

* AbsenteeActor: Despite their rather prominent roles in the films this episode is based on, several characters are completely absent, including War Machine, Ghost, Bill Foster, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive.

* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: The survivors at the start of the episode are: Tony Stark's personal chauffeur, a magic cape, a teenage superhero with spider powers, a superhero who can change size and control ants, the general of a group of bodyguards, a formerly brainwashed super assassin, a former hacker, and an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agent with the group being joined by an Avenger who can't use his powers. By the end of the episode all that is left of the original group is the Cloak and Peter, who are joined by a king missing a leg and a head in a jar.

** The ending arguably includes this as well as zombie Thanos being in Wakanda doesn't really make sense given the Mind Stone isn't there.

** The Quadjet's engines not quite starting makes the same sound effect as the ''Millennium Falcon'''s hyperdrive [[TheAllegedCar crapping out]] in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.

** In a larger sense, in the original Marvel Zombies story, the infected heroes managed to devour all life in the universe besides a small number of human survivors. Here the zombies never make it off Earth, which means that cosmic-level heroes and various alien planets avoid the infection or getting devoured, though zombie Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet could easily change that.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The Pyms cause the ZombieApocalypse by finding an infected Janet in the Quantum Realm. Janet infects Hank and he flees, turning into a zombie himself on the way back.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The infection originally came from the Quantum Realm, Janet Van Dyne having contracted it at some point and sending it to Earth-proper when she infected Hank with it. They are able to use weapons, superpowers, and strategic moves (like ambushes) when hunting the uninfected, making them a tier smarter than your usual mindless hordes.

* BloodierAndGorier: ''Easily'' the single goriest and most violent piece of MCU media there is so far, and that [[Series/ThePunisher is]] [[Series/{{Daredevil|2015}} saying]] [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier something]]. Between Falcon and Captain America being ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisected]]'' and both Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw being straight up '''devoured''' by the now zombified Iron Man and Doctor Strange, well… let's hope you're not too squeamish. That the [[AlienBlood zombies bleed a vague sort of blue instead of red saves the episode from becoming too much of a horror show]].

* BloodierAndGorier: ''Easily'' the single goriest and most violent piece of MCU media there is so far, and that [[Series/ThePunisher is]] [[Series/{{Daredevil}} saying]] [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier something]]. Between Falcon and Captain America being ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisected]]'' and both Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw being straight up '''devoured''' by the now zombified Iron Man and Doctor Strange, well… let's hope you're not too squeamish. That the [[AlienBlood zombies bleed a vague sort of blue instead of red saves the episode from becoming too much of a horror show]].

* BilingualBonus: Okoye tells Peter "thula thula", the Zulu expression for "there there".

** In a sense, the zombified heroes become this as well. In the comics, many of the zombified superheroes actually became ''weaker'' after being turned, such as Thor being unable to wield Mjolnir (this at least makes sense, because as a zombie he's no longer worthy), Wolverine losing his healing factor, and Spider-Man having to painfully shoot veins from his arteries instead of using his webshooters. Here, many of the characters who suffered [[CameBackWrong coming back wrong]] as zombies are AdaptedOut, and the heroes/villains who do get infected are shown to be just as powerful as before.

* AdaptationalDumbass: In the ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' comics, the undead superheroes are capable of thinking, creating plans and utilizing their powers in unique ways to capture and eat other humans, and were also capable of communicating with each other like they used to in life. Here, while some of the heroes retain their knowledge of how to use equipment or magic, they're little more than your stereotypical zombies who can only manage groans and simple words (as demonstrated by zombie Happy saying 'Blam!' after getting turned) and mindlessly shamble towards the heroes they want to consume.

* AdvertisedExtra: Many of the zombie superheroes, primarily Zombie Captain America were prominently shown off in the promotional material, with Cap in particular even getting his own Marvel Legends, Pop Vinyl and Lego figures. However, most of the zombified heroes only appear for a few minutes at most before being taken down or disappearing.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Hope becoming Giant Woman and performing a HeroicSacrifice helps the survivors get into Camp Lehigh without being wiped out. Unfortunately, being killed by [[FleshEatingZombie zombies]] predictably turns Hope herself a giant zombie, thus making the group's escape from Lehigh significantly harder.

** Vision, instead of helping the survivors reach Wakanda, rips out his Mind Stone in a case of DeathEqualsRedemption. This, however, allows the base to be overrun with zombies because the signal from the Mind Stone is no longer active. Hulk and Bucky Barnes both perform [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifices]] to help the remaining heroes, both their fates left unclear.

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: During her first BigDamnHeroes moment, Hope commands a swarm of ants to make short work of the zombified Wong, Dr. Strange and Iron Man. Somehow, she never uses this tactic again.

** Despite the fact that they were present when Janet was rescued in the main timeline, we are not shown what happens to Ghost and Bill Foster.

* RayOfHopeEnding: The surviving Avengers, Peter Parker and T'Challa (and Scott Lang's disembodied head) are on their way to the last refuge of humanity with the power source for the zombie cure, believing Wakandan technology will be able to fix everything. And despite the reveal of Wakanda under siege with all of Thanos' forces zombified (including Thanos himself, armed with 5 of the 6 Infinity Stones), there is some hope in the fact that the cosmic heroes are still on their way, such as Thor, Captain Marvel, and the Guardians plus they have the Mind Stone to possibly deflect the zombies.

** In a sense, the zombified heroes become this as well. In the comics, many of the zombified superheroes actually became ''weaker'' after being turned, such as Thor being unable to wield Mjolnir, Wolverine losing his healing factor, and Spider-Man having to painfully shoot veins from his arteries instead of using his webshooters. Here, many of the characters who suffered [[CameBackWrong coming back wrong]] as zombies are AdaptedOut, and the heroes/villains who do get infected are shown to be just as powerful as before.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: After Happy is harpooned through the shoulder by a zombified Hawkeye, he just says "ow" before being dragged off into the dark.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Advertisements for ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'' showed Spider-Man in Dr. Strange’s cape, suggesting he would become a sorcerer. Instead, he wears it very briefly when Cape joins the Avenger survivors.

* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: The survivors at the start of the episode are: Tony Stark's personal chauffeur, a magic cape, a teenage superhero with spider powers, a superhero who can change size, the general of a group of bodyguards, a formerly brainwashed super assassin, a former hacker, and an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agent with the group being joined by an Avenger who can't use his powers. By the end of the episode all that is left of the original group is the Cloak and Peter, who are joined by a king missing a leg and a head in a jar.

** Also, the SHIELD bunker at Camp Lehigh, and all its subterranean labs, got blown up by cruise missile in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', some four years before the events parallel to this episode would have happened in the Sacred Timeline.

** Hank goes into the Quantum Realm to save Janet, who then infects him with the zombie virus. Janet then pulls them both out, [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom triggering the]] ZombieApocalypse.

** Peter, T'Challa, and Scott end on a BolivianArmyEnding note, with the last scene see of them is arrive to a Wakanada that has already been overrun by a Zombiefied Thanos and his army. Come the time of the [[Recap/WhatIfS1E9WhatIfTheWatcherBrokeHisOath final episode]] which brings together the heroes of the various What If universes, Peter was mysteriously absent. In fact, the only reference to this episode is Strange summoning a Zombie horde to act as a distraction, so it doesn't paint the best picture if Peter and the others actually survived or not.