19 Years Ago, Marvel Had a Perfect Crossover That Combined Decades of Lore With a Major Series

by

Marvel is famous for its powerful, seemingly unbeatable superheroes. But while heroes always triumph in the main Marvel universe, there are many alternate realities where things go horribly wrong – heroes can fail, fall from grace, or even become the villains. One of the most well-known of these dark worlds is Marvel Zombies. In this universe, Marvel’s greatest heroes are infected with a relentless hunger that forces them to devour all living creatures. The original Marvel Zombies series launched a wave of sequels, exploring everything from the zombies’ interdimensional rampages to different versions of the deadly plague. Today, however, we’ll be focusing on the original story with a unique new take.

In March 2007, the worlds of Marvel’s zombies and the Evil Dead franchise collided. Ash J. Williams, a seasoned fighter of the undead, found himself in an unexpectedly challenging situation when he began traveling through different universes. He battled the dead across time and space, but his greatest challenge came when he landed in the middle of the Marvel Zombies comic storyline. The five-part series, Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness, chronicled his desperate fight to salvage anything he could in a world already lost, and the first issue was released nineteen years ago.

Ash Versus the Army of the Dead

Okay, so picture this: Ash, after seemingly biting the dust at the end of Army of Darkness, actually winds up at the Pearly Gates… only to find the zombified Sentry – the original source of the whole undead mess! He tries to blast the thing, but gets swatted right into the Marvel Universe. Turns out, a prophecy in the Necronomicon said this world was next for a zombie apocalypse. It’s a total disaster. I mean, he even accidentally helped Thunderball mess with Daredevil! He tried to warn the Avengers and other heroes about what was coming, but they just dismissed him as crazy. Huge mistake. The zombified Sentry shows up smack-dab in the middle of Manhattan, starts ripping everyone apart, and basically completes the time loop that started it all. It’s the beginning of the end, and it’s absolutely wild!

Ash was tired of dealing with the costumed villains and determined to find the Necronomicon. During his quest, he rescued Dazzler and teamed up with Scarlet Witch – Ash always seems to need a woman by his side to succeed. They sought help from Doctor Strange, but he was unavailable. They did discover, however, that the Necronomicon was located in Latveria, firmly in the possession of Doctor Doom. The three of them eventually made their way to Doom’s castle, which was the last defense against impending disaster.

Ash and Doom weren’t friends, and Ash had to trick Doom and steal one of his suits of armor to get his hands on the Necronomicon. He tried to force the book to lift the curse causing the zombie outbreak, but it explained it hadn’t created the problem and couldn’t fix it. Things looked grim, especially after he lost Dazzler and Scarlet Witch to the zombies, but Ash had a last-ditch plan. He convinced the Necronomicon that the zombies would eventually destroy it too, unless it helped them escape. The book responded by summoning a Deadite army to hold off the zombies, allowing Ash and the remaining survivors to flee to another universe. As a final indignity, the Necronomicon was then used as toilet paper by the Hulk.

A Zombie and Deadite Battle Was Worth all the Gory Glory

The Marvel Zombies universe is a long-running and beloved alternate reality within Marvel Comics, and its backstory has grown considerably over time. It began as a storyline in Ultimate Fantastic Four (2004) before becoming a standalone series with numerous sequels. While the source of the zombie outbreak remained a mystery for a while, Marvel Zombies Return finally revealed the truth: Uatu the Watcher contained the infection to two universes by creating a time loop where they endlessly infected each other. Ash played a key role in this, as the Sentry was diverted to Heaven instead of the original zombie Earth, and it was through him that the infection spread across the world.

Similar to the popular Marvel Zombies, the Evil Dead series has a loyal following and centers around fighting the undead, with Ash always ultimately winning. This particular crossover is important for the Evil Dead comics published by Dynamite, because Ash actually died at the end of their first series. This story explains how he was resurrected and began his adventures across different universes. Despite being considered a hero, Ash is really just an ordinary guy. He was outmatched by the powerful forces in the Marvel universe, but he still managed to save many lives and played a key role in the origin of the zombie outbreak.

This team-up launched a really exciting and scary series of comics by Ash Williams. What’s your favorite Evil Dead and Ash crossover comic? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

https://comicbook.com/comics/list/10-essential-marvel-horror-comics-that-arent-just-marvel-zombies/embed/#

Read More

2026-03-21 21:10