‘Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness’ Is a Great Forgotten Crossover

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2007 was a busy year! Martin Scorsese finally won an Oscar for directing The Departed, and Jordan Sparks took the crown on American Idol. Fans finally got the last Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, and said goodbye to Bob Barker on The Price is Right. The year also saw the much-discussed finale of The Sopranos, and a major tech launch: the very first iPhone. As if that wasn’t enough, Marvel and Sam Raimi delivered a double helping of superhero excitement!

Most people probably recall Spider-Man 3, which came out in May 2007. But two months earlier, a comic book series called Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness began. That comic was released 19 years ago, during a very different time for both Marvel Comics and the Evil Dead franchise. The unusual combination of these two brands was a special event that probably wouldn’t happen today, even though both series are still popular.

‘Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness’ Was a Unique Product of Its Time


Marvel Comics

A special comic book published jointly by Marvel and Dynamite Entertainment brought Ash Williams, the hero of the Evil Dead series, into the world of Marvel Zombies. This alternate universe features a terrifying twist: Earth’s most powerful superheroes have all been turned into zombies.

As a big fan of both Marvel and Evil Dead, it’s fascinating to look back at when Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness came out. 2007 feels like a different era for Marvel – they were making movies, sure, with things like Ghost Rider and another Spider-Man film, but the Iron Man movie that launched the whole MCU hadn’t happened yet. It was right before everything changed! Then, just two years later, Disney bought Marvel, which was huge. Meanwhile, the Evil Dead series was pretty quiet. The comic came out twelve years after Army of Darkness, and for a while, the only new thing happening was a fan-made musical that started playing off-Broadway in 2006. We didn’t get Bruce Campbell back as Ash until Ash vs. The Evil Dead in 2015, so this crossover felt like a really unique moment for both franchises.

This comic is special because it continues the story from the 2006 Army of Darkness series and acts as a prequel to the Marvel Zombies run from 2005-2006. It’s clearly made as a tribute to director Sam Raimi’s work. Released alongside Spider-Man 3, it features a fantastic team-up between Ash Williams and Spider-Man. Even though it wasn’t necessarily Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, bringing together the two characters most associated with Raimi – who directed their film trilogies – was a unique crossover possible only in comics. 2007 feels like the last chance for this kind of team-up, as both the Army of Darkness and Marvel universes were about to change significantly behind the scenes.

Complicated Rights Issues Might Prevent Ash Williams From Fighting Marvel Zombies Again


Disney+

The news of Bruce Campbell’s cancer diagnosis has prompted fans to celebrate his impressive career, especially his iconic role as Ash Williams. Beyond Ash, Campbell has a long history with Marvel, appearing in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and was even originally planned to play Mysterio in a fourth Spider-Man film that never came to fruition. This connection has led many to hope for a future crossover, perhaps with Ash facing off against Marvel’s zombie characters – potentially through a voice acting role in Season 2 of Marvel Zombies.

Even though Sam Raimi has a strong connection to Marvel, a crossover between Marvel Zombies and Army of Darkness doesn’t seem probable. The main issue is who owns the rights to each series. Back in 2007, Marvel Comics could easily partner with another publisher, like Dynamite Comics who had the rights to Army of Darkness. Now that Disney owns Marvel, it’s unlikely the first crossover event would involve a property not owned by Disney.

The ownership of the Evil Dead franchise is quite complex. Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell seem to own the rights to the first two Evil Dead films, but Universal Pictures has partial ownership of Army of Darkness. This explains why different studios have made sequels – for example, Sony Pictures produced the Evil Dead remake. Recently, in 2024, Studio Canal gained the rights to distribute all Evil Dead content worldwide, with Army of Darkness being the only exception.

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With the Marvel Cinematic Universe focusing on established Marvel characters, a direct adaptation of Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness doesn’t seem probable. However, the recent crossover between Marvel and DC Comics offers a glimmer of hope. Interestingly, one piece of the comic has made it to the screen: the werewolf version of Spider-Man, first seen in the final pages of the comic, appears as a member of the Spider Society in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Considering director Sam Raimi’s history with Spider-Man films, it’s fitting that a character originating from a crossover between his original movies and the broader Marvel Universe would appear in a Spider-Man film.



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2026-03-08 23:12