Yelena Belova's MCU Death Proves The 1 Thing The Multiver...

Yelena Belova's MCU Death Proves What The Multiverse Saga Really Got Right

Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova looks directly at the camera in the dark in Thunderbolts* poster

By Felipe Rangel Published 34 minutes ago Felipe Rangel is a Superheroes Lead Writer and Reviewer at ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021, with a focus on superhero projects. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Since the launch of the Superheroes vertical in 2023, he has focused his efforts on coming up with insightful analyses of Marvel and DC's projects. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Yelena Belova's death in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's final release of 2025 is quite impactful, and it helps cement what I believe everyone can agree on about the Multiverse Saga. The year has ended for the MCU, as all 2025 Marvel movies and TV shows have been released. With Wonder Man pushed to January 2026, Marvel Studios does not have any releases left.

However, the franchise's final project of the year was quite surprising. The multiversal MCU TV show brought back several characters from the franchise, with many fan-favorite stars reprising their roles in animated form. When all was said and done, the death toll was shockingly high, even for what we knew would be a TV-MA release, and Yelena was among the fallen.

Yelena Belova Is One Of The Many Deaths Of Marvel Zombies

Yelena, Ms. Marvel and Blade Knight looking worried at something in Marvel Zombies

The Marvel series I'm talking about is Marvel Zombies, which was released on September 24 on Disney+. The show is a spinoff of the What If...? season 1 episode What If... Zombies?! The series focuses on Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, befriending other heroes as she tries to save the world from the zombie apocalypse and the Queen of the Dead — Wanda Maximoff.

Staying true to its TV-MA nature, Marvel Zombies is quite dark, with several characters dying in gruesome ways. Decapitation, dismembering, and so on are ways in which we sadly see beloved characters die. Among the list of deceased MCU players are heroes like Thor, Blade, Kate Bishop, Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, and more. All the deaths are sad.

However, no death in Marvel Zombies is more emotional than Yelena's. The death of Florence Pugh's MCU hero comes when Ms. Marvel's team is trying to break out of the Raft as it is being overrun by zombies, thanks to the zombified Namor's arrival. Yelena sacrifices herself to send the heroes to safety while sinking the Raft, which explodes with her in it.

The Multiverse Saga Made Yelena Belova Its Best New Character

Yelena looking over her shoulder while tied up with US Agent and Ghost in Thunderbolts*

Part of the reason why Yelena's death is so impactful in Marvel Zombies is due to the circumstances surrounding it. However, a huge part of the impact comes from Pugh's role in live-action during the Multiverse Saga. While Marvel has introduced several new characters in the last few years, Yelena Belova is easily the best arrival in the MCU's Multiverse Saga.

Most new Multiverse Saga characters either appeared once or had no major arcs, or both. Yelena is the opposite of that. Pugh has appeared in live-action in Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thunderbolts*. She has gone from a Red Room assassin to being manipulated to go after Hawkeye to becoming the leader of the New Avengers. As such, Yelena is the MCU Multiverse Saga's star.

39 8.8/10

6/10

Marvel Zombies

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Animation Action & Adventure Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2025 - 2025-00-00 Network Disney+ Directors Bryan Andrews Writers Bryan Andrews, Zeb Wells, Robert Kirkman Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe

5 Images

Yelena, Ms. Marvel and Blade Knight looking worried at something in Marvel Zombies YT Marvel Zombies Captain America Featured Image

Zombie Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet in Marvel Zombies (2025)

Spider-Man decapitating zombies with his webs in Marvel ZombiesCourtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Blade as Moon Knight with his sword in Marvel ZombiesCourtesy of Walt Disney StudiosClose

Cast

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David Harbour Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian (voice)
Simu Liu Shang-Chi (voice)

Genres Animation, Action & Adventure, Horror, Science Fiction Creator(s) Zeb Wells Powered by

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Marvel Cinematic Universe
Marvel Zombies

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