Finally! The most anticipated What If…? episode to date has arrived, and it gave fans what they have wanted since the first teaser art: Marvel Zombies. Here's a look at What If...? Episode #5. Beware, possible spoilers ahead!

THEY’RE HE-ERE

When it comes to Marvel Studios’ teases, WandaVision’s Quicksilver trolling taught MCU fans not to fully trust that a payoff is coming. Despite zombie versions of Captain America and Hawkeye being featured in the promotional artwork, there was always a tinge of doubt in case the studio planned another joke on its audience.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and Marvel delivered its superhero walking dead in grand fashion. The episode was darker and more brutal than expected, especially compared to the earlier What If…? entries featuring Captain Carter and Starlord T’Challa.

It should prove to be a fan favorite episode that could pave the way for more monsters either in What If…? or the greater MCU.

THE KEYS

The Marvel Zombies’ big MCU debut will have immediate effects on those zombie keys, starting at the top with the first appearance.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21

When evil Mister Fantastic stranded the Ultimate FF in Earth-91126, the creative duo of Mark Millar and Greg Land set off a pop culture phenomenon. Two years after Robert Kirkman’s groundbreaking first issue of The Walking Dead and five years ahead of AMC’s TWD series, UFF #21 opened the gate to the world of Marvel Zombies with a last-page look at the zombie FF. Thus, a legend was born.

Both the standard and variant covers for UFF #21 have been hot this year, but the variant cover is by far the more notable of the two. Whereas the last 9.8 standard edition sold for $206 in June, the variant brought $1,250 in July. 

More recently, a 9.6 standard cover earned $145 over the past week. The only graded variant edition to sell this month was a 9.2 that brought just $50 in August.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #22

One issue later, readers got their first look at the bigger cast of Marvel Zombies, which makes their full debut the most popular of those undead keys. The past two sales for 9.8s have each exceeded $700, the most recent of which was on September 7 when one earned $721.

If you are willing to roll the dice on ungraded comics, there are still great deals on the auction sites. On Tuesday, a raw copy brought $65, which is a far cry from that $700+ 9.8 slab.

MARVEL ZOMBIES #1

For the past month, the debut issue of the Marvel Zombies’ first self-titled comic has been setting and breaking records. On August 8, a 9.8 for the standard cover reached an all-time high of $405, which was nearly matched only days ago with a $400 sale on September 6.

A day later, that record was destroyed when another 9.8 sold for $515. 

MORE TO COME

This is far from the last time the Marvel Zombies will be featured in the MCU. The open ending of Episode Five invited more adventures in the Earth-91126, and that’s not to mention that Marvel already has three toys specifically connected to this specific episode. More is coming from the superhero undead, you can count on it.