They’ve eaten their way right into any good Marvel Zombie’s heart and
mind. That’s right, folks; the Marvel Zombieverse returns this month in
the third installment of Marvel Zombies. Written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by Kev Walker, Marvel Zombies 3 delves into the time period between Marvel Zombies
1 and 2—exploring what more of the zombified characters were doing
during the 40 year span between the first two projects. Set in 616
Marvel continuity, it appears that zombies from the Zombieverse are
pouring into the Nexus of All Realities—in Citrusville, Florida—home of
the Man-Thing. The cover of the first issue all boasts appearances by
The Machine Man and Jocasta!
Newsarama contacted Fred Van Lente to discuss just who is to be dined
upon and who will be doing the dining in this four issue mini-series…
11 page preview here
Newsarama: First off, let's talk about the status of the Marvel Universe post Marvel Zombies 2. Where does this story pick up or take place in lieu of the other two stories?
Fred Van Lente: In the Zombie Universe, MZ3 takes place in the five-year gap at the very end of Marvel Zombies 1,
after the cosmically-powered undead went off to explore strange, new
worlds and devour them. But before the folks living on Magneto's
Asteroid M came down to Earth and said, "Hey, where did all the zombies
go?"
In the Marvel Universe, MZ3 takes place right before Secret Invasion.
Whether or not you can now triangulate from when Ultimate Reed went
into the Zombie Universe and develop a parallel timeline for the
Ultimate, Marvel and Zombie Universe when things happen simultaneously
with each other, I will leave to those with way more time on their
hands...
NRAMA: What role does Citrusville, Florida play in the story? Man-Thing is from Florida...
FVL: So he is! Also in Citrusville is the Nexus of All
Realities, where many other universes converge. And therefore it's the
perfect place for a denizen of, say, I don't know, the Marvel Zombie
Universe to stumble into our very own Marvel U and unleash a plague of
undead on the Sunshine State.
NRAMA: This mini sees the Marvel Zombie-verse cross into the
standard '616' Marvel Universe, correct? Do any 616 characters play
crucial roles in this mini?
FVL: Let's just say the Florida Initiative team has a really, really, really, really bad day.
The sister agency to S.H.I.E.L.D. in charge of guarding against
interdimensional threats -- Alternate Reality Monitoring and
Operational Response -- A.R.M.O.R. -- which is headed by a returning MU
mutant we haven't seen since, gee... Since the 1990's, I don't think --
they gather together a team to go into the Zombie Universe and get
bring back the one thing blood expert and "living vampire" Dr. Michael
Morbius needs to save the entire Marvel Universe from being completely
overrun by cannibalistic superhuman undead.
And as those of you who've seen our first issue cover know, who better
to send on a mission to the Zombie Universe than heroes who can't
possibly be infected by zombies for the most obvious reason?
NRAMA: Do you have any connection to zombie movies or fiction? What are some of your influences for this project?
FVL: The original Night of the Living Dead is one of my all time favorite movies, and I love Peter Jackson's Dead Alive/Brain Dead.
One of my best friends from college is famed zombie novelist David
Wellington, who I was working with at the U.N. (of all places) when he
was writing his great zombie trilogy, Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet. He would bounce ideas off me and he would tell me about how he was struggling and working with the genre.
So even though MZ3 is my first major work in the zombie
world it felt familiar to me -- like coming home. A rotting,
blood-spattered, intestine-spilling home.
NRAMA: The previous two stories are pretty shocking and/or horrific. Does this new mini up the ante in terms of shock and gore?
FVL: All I know is the climax of the second issue is the single
most disgusting thing I've ever written. And Kev Walker captured it
brilliantly -- and by "brilliant" I mean "horrifically and
disgustingly." I wanted to take a shower after I saw the boards. Come
to think of it, I still do...
NRAMA: Are there any surprise characters making an impact in pages of this project?
FVL: Well, he's on the cover, so I don't know how big of a surprise he'll be at this point!
We're definitely going to be seeing a lot of zombie characters we
haven't seen in the past, what the villains have been up to in the
Zombie Universe, some of the robots... What's been going on in the Blue
Area of the Moon...
Let's just say certain zombies have taken advantage of the advanced
science of a superhero universe to solve their food shortage problem...
By employing a device from one of the single most controversial Marvel story lines of all time...
NRAMA: Will the zombies infiltrating the 616 continuity have any long-lasting effects on any standard Marvel characters?
FVL: Yes, one in particular, who's one of my favorites of all time.
NRAMA: In six words, give readers a solid tease for Marvel Zombies 3.
FVL: Delicious brains oozing from costume -- YUM!
Wow. I think we can get a whole "Zombie Haiku" movement started if we try hard enough...
