WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Marvel Zombies: Resurrection by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Leonard Kirk, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now
Before What If... brought them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the newest comic book incarnation of the Marvel Zombies has already proven to be incredibly deadly, quickly wiping out any and all forms of resistance with relative ease. Infected by alien Brood eggs implanted in the corpse of Galactus, these zombified heroes and villain, the Respawned, shared a unifed hive mind that made them more cruel and more dangerous than Marvel's other zombies.
With Marvel Zombies: Resurrection focusing on a small handful of survivors, it's worth looking at how many heroes were infected and how dangerous that makes the world for the remaining few.
WHICH HEROES WERE INFECTED IN MARVEL ZOMBIES: RESURRECTION?
The first Earth-based hero infected was presumably Captain Marvel. Having been exploring deep-space on her own, Captain Marvel reached out and told Mister Fantastic to assemble a team to come and see what she had found, effectively luring the other heroes to the undead Galactus. A coalition of heroes that included the rest of the Fantastic Four, Beast, Magik, Magneto, Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and War Machine were the initial group that venture into space and are exposed to the darkness creeping out of Galactus. Once they were inside the remains of the celestial being, the heroes were confronted by the other infected aliens hiding within him - including a horde of zombified Skrulls, Brood, Shi'Ar, and Kree.
Among their number were also a number of infected cosmic heroes, including Nova, Gamora, Groot and Gladiator. At the heart of the Galactus corpse is an infected Silver Surfer, who attacks the Fantastic Four upon their discovery of him. All the heroes who investigated Galactus are corrupted, and become known as the "Galactus Hive." The coming of Galactus and the former heroes leads to a massive number of deaths across the Earth and the further spread of the virus. Among the other confirmed infected include Storm, Falcon, the Wizard, Hyperion, Thunderball, Vulture, all of Alpha Flight, the Hulk, She-Hulk, Red Hulk, Namor, Namora, Nightcrawler. Considering that Forge has turned the of Cyclops into a laser weapon, it's likely that he was also infected -- before being killed.
WHICH HEROES SURVIVED MARVEL ZOMBIES: RESURRECTION?
The series focuses largely on Spider-Man, who remained behind and was watching over Franklin and Valeria Richards when the Galactus Hive returned to Earth. Spider-Man was able to protect them from their corrupted family - although he was permanently burned by the zombie Human Torch and it appears that he may have lost Mary-Jane Watson in the process. A couple of years after the Galactus Hive spread to Earth, the trio remain in a group - although Franklin has mysteriously stopped aging and his powers haven't been working. They've been joined by four companions: Forge of the X-Men, the former villain Moonstone, Captain Marvel's pet Flerken, Chewie, and a reprogrammed Sentinel called "Nana."
The only other confirmed heroic survivor is Blade, who appears at the end of the issue and volunteers to join the group on their mission to confront the Galactus Hive. Forge suggests investigating the ruins of the Xavier Institute for a number of reasons, including the possibility of finding an operational ship. If so, then the group could try to reunite with one of the "Space Arks," which presumably carry what remains of humanity through the cosmos - and potentially the other last heroes. There's also the chance that other unconfirmed heroes have made it through this, particularly dark timeline. But the quick succession in which the heroes lose almost half their group suggests most of humanity's defenders fell in battle against the undead.
While investigating the Xavier Institute, the group discovers the corrupted Beast. Trying to convince the monster to help him develop a cure for the zombie disease, Forge is killed when Beast bites off his head. The heroes destroy Beast for this, but Moonstone sees Beast's obvious attempt to trick the pair of Richards children into heading directly into danger. She chooses to leave the group instead of risking her life -- ironically being quickly ambushed and turned. She attacks the rest of the group, seriously damaging Nana and almost killing Spider-Man before Blade saves the day - by slicing her to pieces.
Beyond that main group, several cybernetic characters and humans survived as the Ennows. Based on the machines once meant to turn back the Respawned, this robotic crew, which included Viv Vision, Machine Man and Nimrod grew their ranks through the Transmode virus, which turned regular humans like Cable, the Punisher and Strong Guy into machines. Although he was not part of the group, Franklin survived through a similar means, thanks to a new techno-organic body created by Warlock, which Doctor Strange then transferred his consciousness into.
While this series ends with the Respawned defeated, the final threat of this universe still remains unseen, lingering in the distance. But given how much damage they already did, there are still plenty of horrors hiding in this Marvel Zombies universe.