Let’s face it. The probability of a sudden and horrifying zombie apocalypse is most likely higher than the chance that superheroes will appear and save people from their troubles. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your favorite heroes’ adventures in the comic books, on TV and, of course, on the big screen.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe aka MCU has been ruling over the superhero film world for over a decade now. And it’s showing no real signs of stopping. But what do you get when you combine zombies and superheroes? Besides the great series Marvel Zombies, you’ll get MCU superheroes fighting alongside you in a zombie apocalypse. Some of them would then prove really useful, while others… not so much.
WOULD: Iron Man
Take this one with a grain of salt. Tony Stark aka Iron Man would be only truly useful if he didn’t need to recharge his armor as he did in the original versions of the comics where he literally had to plug it into a socket. But the MCU version of Tony is a bit more progressive… and also a bit more dead, so using him as a fighter in a potential zombie apocalypse might be problematic.
Let’s just pretend he’s alive, though, for a moment. Iron Man is a capable fighter, his suit has many cool functions and since he can fly, he would stay well out of the reach of any zombie horde. Plus, he could always whisk you away to safety in case things would go really wrong.
WOULDN’T: Captain America
Don’t get us wrong… Captain America is an excellent fighter and a strategist, as he proved over and over again during both his solo movies and the Avengers team adventures. However, he’s also super old at the moment since he went to the past and lived his life with Peggy Carter.
So Sam Wilson is now the new Captain America and beyond the costume and shield, he’s just an ordinary human, not an enhanced one like Steve was. And even if you did somehow get the original Captain America, if a truly large horde of zombies attacked him, he probably wouldn’t be able to fight them off and protect you at the same time.
WOULD: Hulk
Bruce Banner is usually a mild-mannered and polite scientist while Hulk is a smashing beast. Every person could certainly use someone like this in a zombie apocalypse since he would smash all the zombies to pieces with just one swing of his mighty fists.
At the same time, though, Hulk can draw quite a lot of attention to you. So he might be considered a blessing in disguise, depending on whether he can control himself well enough in order not to let the zombies know where your secret hideout is. Maybe you’d be best along with professor Hulk? Difficult to say.
WOULDN’T: Black Widow
Poor Natasha Romanoff… She just can’t seem to catch a break. Often underestimated even by the MCU’s fans, Natasha bravely sacrificed her life on Vormir to get the soul stone in Avengers: Endgame. And now she’ll be back for her long-awaited solo film Black Widow.
While Natasha is an excellent fighter, her main choice of weapon in the MCU is guns. Depending on the type of gun, it might prove more or less effective against zombies, but the problem with all guns is that they need a lot of ammunition and you need to get said ammunition somewhere which might be a problem in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. So Natasha is out.
WOULD: Thor
Thor at his peak physical condition would be a better choice, of course, but if in trouble, you can also use the version from Avengers: Endgame where Thor battled with depression and weight gain. Thor has the powers of the God of thunder and can do many awesome fighting tricks, like frying the zombies with the bolts.
Or he can use his mighty hammer and smash them to pieces alongside Hulk (see above). Plus, if given the chance, he could bring some of his friends to the fight, as long as they’re not dead. More fighters equal more chances for you to stay alive.
WOULDN’T: Hawkeye
Hawkeye is a case very similar to Natasha. He’s a brilliant archer and a capable fighter (even though Natasha seems to be better at hand to hand combat than him). He could shoot the zombies in the head and kill them this way. The problem is that once Hawkeye runs out of his arrows, he pretty much becomes useless.
Unless you’ll find a way how to get him new ones or unless he makes a new pack of arrows, he no longer can properly serve in a fight. Plus, when it gets to the fight against zombies, more aggressive weapons are often better.
WOULD: Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, currently residing in New York, and he probably has a few useful magical tricks up his sleeves he could use to defeat the zombies and save you from certain death. Unless he’d decide your death was necessary to win the final fight (yes, we’re looking at you, Tony).
Stephen Strange can be difficult to get along with sometimes but he does care about the people around him, even though he sometimes has a strange way of showing it. Plus, he’s the one character most likely to serve you a great cup of tea even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse and that’s got to count for something, no?
WOULDN’T: Ant-Man
Scott Lang alias Ant-Man is a newer superhero who wasn’t a part of the original MCU Avengers but managed to prove his worth since then. Scott started out as a thief and his path to superheroism officially kicked off after he broke into Hank Pym’s house.
Even though Scott is clever and resourceful, his main power is the cool technological suit he uses to shrink down and communicate with ants. By this point, you already have another suited superhero in your team and Iron Man’s suit is much better designed for fighting zombies than Ant-Man’s suit. So even though Scott’s optimism will be missed, he’s out of this one.
WOULD: Captain Marvel
While some fans weren’t all that excited by Brie Larson’s portrayal of Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel, there’s no denying that Captain Marvel is currently one of the heavy-hitters of the MCU. Her powers are certainly impressive, and even though she wasn’t able to defeat Thanos all on her own, she’d most likely do much better against a group of hungry zombies.
Plus, just like Iron Man, she can always pick you up and fly you to safety should the situation go south and you’d need to make a quick getaway. Plus, it’d be nice to have at least one female in your otherwise male team.
WOULDN’T: Spider-Man
While people love Tom Holland as Spider-Man, so much that many of them were devastated when it looked like that Spider-Man would be out of the MCU for good, Peter Parker is going to have to sit this one out. Why? Well, while his webs might be useful in stopping the zombies in their approach, they won’t exactly kill them.
And once Spidey runs out of his webs, then he’d have to rely only on his fists and there are already stronger members in the team (Thor and Hulk, for example). Finally, he’s only 17 or so and it’s better not to bring children into the fight. Sorry, Peter.
