Sure, all good things come to an end, but Disney has been doing a pretty solid job lately of making sure some of our favorite franchises can live on for a new generation! We stepped into a whole new fairytale with Descendants: The Rise of Red in 2024 and it looks like we’re gearing up for the next phase of the ZOMBIES movies. Available now on Disney+, ZOMBIES 4 delivers pretty much everything we could’ve hoped for as the end of a first chapter and the start of a fresh one!
While not everyone from the original movies returns, we do get to see Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa, as well as hearing about what fan-fave characters like Bucky, Bre, Bonzo, and Wynter have been up to. We get to meet a whole new cast of characters that we hope to learn more about in a future movie or show. And for the first time, Milo Manheim (Zed) and Meg Donnelly (Addison) are credited as executive producers on ZOMBIES 4, which suggests they might stay involved behind the scenes to keep bringing these stories to life!
When we meet our fave high school sweethearts Zed and Addison again, they’re each trying to conquer their athletic fields at Mountain College. Their time at Seabrook High saw Zed becoming a star football player after convincing the coach and principal to give zombies a chance on the field, while Addison was the enthusiastic cheer captain who inspired all of her peers to stay positive and make the most of every situation. They’re both determined to prove themselves by dedicating their summer to football and cheer camps, respectively, so they can hit the ground running next school year. They have no time to waste to show off their potential, right?
They reunite with zombie Eliza, who we missed in ZOMBIES 3, and werewolf Willa to take a road trip back to Seabrook, but things take a turn when Zed’s Z-band malfunctions and he loses control of the car. They split up to try to find help… and they wind up stumbling on two distinct towns with different creatures who actually hate each other.
Zed winds up in the bright Sunnyside, where daywalkers, who have light powers, are preparing to defend themselves from vampires as both groups get ready to harvest their one food source: bloodfruit. Meanwhile, Addison ends up in the mysterious Shadyside, where vampires are preparing to defend themselves against daywalkers for the same reason. Each group is hesitant to trust the outsiders from Seabrook, but eventually make a deal to let them stay.
We learn more about the conflict between daywalkers and vampires, and it sounds a whole lot like the initial zombies vs. humans debate from the first ZOMBIES movie. The two groups don’t trust each other, largely because they both need the bloodfruit, but some of the younger members are open to making a change and getting to know each other.
The two main characters who want to change things are vampire Victor and daywalker Nova, but they’re pressured by their groups’ existing leaders to make sure things stay the same. It gets a little complicatedly magical when they meet and realize they’ve had visions of each other! Can they unite the daywalkers and vampires to save the bloodfruit orchard and prevent our favorite monsters from getting hurt by the dangerous, growing force that made Zed zombie-out in the car? Our Seabrook squad’s solution is creating a supernatural summer camp (“the most dangerous summer camp on Earth,” as Willa puts it) that you’ll lowkey wish you could attend, focused on bringing everyone together.
We’re two zombies, a werewolf, and an alien. We’re living proof that all monsters can work together.
Addison
After the interstellar, alien-themed detour in the last movie, ZOMBIES 4 returns to the heart of the franchise and reminds us that we’re all better together with the people we care about. We get to see how Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa have grown since we first met them, as well as how their bonds have grown and shifted over time. The heartfelt conversations they have about college and missing each other made us tear up! It was so exciting to see some of our faves back together on screen again, especially with that gorgeous scene on the hill in the end. No spoilers here, but you’ll see why we love it so much when you watch it!
The movie might also be setting up a follow-up franchise focused on Nova and Victor, who show quite a few parallels to Addison and Zed in the first movie. They each come from a different world and have a lot of expectations on them, while some people around them don’t understand why they want to reject society’s existing order. Nova’s daywalker sidekick, Ray, reminds us a lot of Bucky and how he feared zombies. There’s even an accidental flip like how Addison instinctively punched Zed! We’d love to see more of their story, especially with that interesting ending.
Two kids. Thrown together. Their people are enemies. Yeah, it reminds me of two someones we know.
Zed
ZOMBIES 4 is a must-watch for any DCOM fan, reminding us of the power of friendship, open-mindedness, and hope! We already know we’ll be revisiting the movie and jamming out to the absolute bops on the soundtrack (especially ‘Kerosene’) all summer.
Will you be watching along with us, honeybees? Who’s your favorite ZOMBIES character? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! You can also buzz on over to our Reddit community to chat with us.
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