Let’s be honest. If you’ve ever tried to follow the Call of Duty Zombies story, you’ve probably asked yourself: “Did I miss a crucial cutscene?” No. You didn’t. The story is just that complicated, and yes, it involves time travel, multiverses, ancient evil gods, and a German scientist stealing his own brain.

Act 1: The OG Crew and the Accidental Apocalypse (World at War – Black Ops)

We begin with Nacht der Untoten—a group of soldiers stuck in a bunker with zero backstory. No plot, just vibes and zombies. But by the time Shi No Numa and Der Riese roll around, things get juicy.

Here’s the setup: During World War II, Group 935, a German scientific research organization (because that always ends well), was trying to develop advanced tech using Element 115—a glowing space rock that conveniently reanimates the dead. Dr. Edward Richtofen (your local mad German scientist) leads this experiment, eventually creating the first zombies and teleporters.

After an “oops, all zombies” moment, Richtofen betrays Dr. Maxis and his daughter Samantha by trapping them in a teleporter, which blasts Samantha into the Aether, a mystical dimension of eldritch power. Samantha takes control of the zombies, and because she’s mad her dad got vaporized, she sics them on humanity. Kids, am I right?

This sets off the events of Kino der Toten, Ascension, and Moon, where the main crew—Richtofen, Dempsey (the American), Takeo (the Japanese warrior), and Nikolai (the vodka-fueled Russian)—team up to stop the madness. On Moon, Richtofen pulls a fast one and swaps souls with Samantha, taking over the zombies himself. Then they blow up Earth. Yeah, just casually destroy the planet. Classic finale.

Act 1.5: Call of the Dead – When Horror Becomes Canon

Ah yes—Call of the Dead, also known as “That One Map Where George A. Romero Is a Giant Angry Zombie Director With an Electric Light”. And yes, somehow, even that bonkers celebrity cameo ties into the grand, tangled web of Call of Duty Zombies lore. So let’s break it down like you’re explaining to someone who just walked into a convention panel 45 minutes late.

Released as DLC for Black Ops 1, Call of the Dead was originally marketed as a fun one-off: a star-studded zombie-slaying adventure starring Danny Trejo, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michael Rooker, and Robert Englund, trapped on a snowy ship set where George A. Romero himself—the godfather of zombies—emerges from the water as an electrified, enraged super zombie wielding a freaking stage light.

At the time, it seemed like goofy fanservice. But in true Treyarch fashion… it’s actually canon.

So… How the Hell Is This Canon?

Turns out, Call of the Dead is actually part of Richtofen’s grand plan to take over the Aether. Here’s how:

• The map takes place during the events of the first Zombies timeline.
• George Romero was apparently filming a movie in Siberia, at the exact location of a secret Group 935 facility.
• During filming, he accidentally unearthed some leftover Element 115, and well… it turned him into a rage zombie with Hollywood flair.
• The four actors—just playing themselves—fight for survival on the movie set, which is actually a disguised real zombie outbreak caused by that Element 115 exposure.

But here’s where the map becomes more than a gimmick:

You hear Richtofen over the radios.

He’s trapped in the facility with the original crew (Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo), trying to recover a special device—the Golden Rod, aka the Vril Generator. This artifact is vital for the events of Moon, where Richtofen swaps souls with Samantha.

So the actors are unknowingly helping move the main plot forward. By completing the Easter egg, they assist Richtofen in recovering the Golden Rod. It’s basically like if a bunch of drunk cosplayers accidentally completed a vital CIA mission.

The Meta Commentary: Romero’s Legacy in the Story

There’s also a symbolic layer here. George A. Romero—father of the modern zombie genre—becoming a literal zombie boss is both a tribute and a cheeky metaphor. He created the rules of the undead, and now, in a bizarre twist of fate, he’s bound by them.

Romero being turned into a zombie is poetic in a “this script was written by madmen” sort of way. He becomes a casualty of the very genre he helped invent, mirroring how every character in Zombies eventually falls victim to the very forces they try to control.

But Wait, There’s More: He Gets a Juggernog-Sized Sendoff

Romero’s death isn’t just a one-time gag either. After his real-life passing in 2017, Treyarch paid tribute again in Tag der Toten—the final map of the Aether saga. That map is a reimagining of Call of the Dead, and while Romero doesn’t appear as a boss, his spirit is honored through narrative logs and visual cues. It serves as a heartfelt goodbye, as the characters (and developers) bid farewell to the Aether storyline—and to the man who inspired it.

TL;DR: Romero Is Canon Because Why Not?

• Call of the Dead is a real zombie outbreak disguised as a movie set.
• George Romero was zombified by Element 115 exposure.
• The celebrity cast unknowingly helps Richtofen advance the main story.
• The Golden Rod they help retrieve is essential to the Moon events.
• Romero’s legacy is later honored in the saga’s finale.

So yes—George A. Romero is canon in Call of Duty Zombies. Because in this universe, even the director of the zombie apocalypse can become a victim of it.

Welcome to Call of Duty Zombies. No one is safe. Not even the guy who invented the genre.

Act 2: Maxis Returns, Richtofen Goes Crazier, and the Multiverse Gets Busted (Black Ops II)

In Black Ops II, you’re stuck between two choices: Help Dr. Maxis (back from the dead, somehow) or side with now-demonic Edward Richtofen. Both want to control the Aether and the zombies, and depending on who you help, the world either burns or… burns in a slightly different flavor.

Maps like Tranzit, Die Rise, and Buried introduce a new cast: Misty, Marlton, Stuhlinger (he hears voices because he ate zombie flesh—don’t ask), and Russman. They’re kind of like the B-team Scooby-Doo gang but with more apocalypse and less mystery-solving.

Eventually, Maxis wins (canonically), merges with the Aether, and starts rebooting the multiverse. You’d think that’d be the end, but no. Not even close.

– What About Advanced Warfare? –

Ah yes—Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Exo Zombies: the redheaded stepchild of the Zombies family that showed up to Thanksgiving uninvited, decked out in future armor, and somehow still made it weirdly work.

Let’s be crystal clear up front: Exo Zombies is not connected to the main Aether or Dark Aether storyline that runs through World at War, Black Ops 1–4, Cold War, or Modern Warfare III. But it does have its own self-contained plot, its own canon, and, like everything else in Zombies, it somehow ends with a massive corporation causing the end of the world. Classic.

The mode kicks off in the map Outbreak, and the premise is this: Atlas Corporation—your friendly neighborhood evil megacorp—has been developing bio-weapons and, shocker, they lose control of a zombie virus after deploying it in New Baghdad.

Instead of zombies shambling around in rags, these undead are infected exo-suit-wearing super soldiers with horrifying agility and zero respect for fair combat. The first playable map features a group of Atlas employees and soldiers trying to survive as their own tech turns against them.

Playable Cast:

• Jim Decker (John Malkovich) – A janitor who may or may not have been a government agent
• Oz (Bill Paxton) – A grizzled Atlas security guard with PTSD and a mysterious past
• Lilith Swann (Rose McGowan) – A researcher and possible spy
• Kahn (Jon Bernthal) – A corporate suit who learns the hard way not to trust Atlas

Each character slowly uncovers pieces of the conspiracy through audio logs and cutscenes.

The Maps and Timeline:

1. Outbreak – Atlas’ labs are overrun. The player escapes via dropship. Oz is already showing signs of infection.
2. Infection – Takes place in a quarantined Burger Town suburb. Atlas is losing control. The team learns Oz is infected.
3. Carrier – The group is taken aboard an Atlas aircraft carrier, which is unsurprisingly also infested. Atlas lies to them. Decker suspects something bigger is at play.
4. Descent – The team descends into an underwater Atlas facility. Oz transforms into a full-on boss monster. Plot twist: Oz died before the outbreak and has been cloned and resurrected repeatedly by Atlas.

So, What’s the Story?

• Atlas was using Oz as a prototype for undead super-soldiers using nanotechnology.
• The virus mutates, gains sentience, and essentially turns into a hive mind using Oz’s memories as its core.
• The final cutscene reveals that Oz’s clone has gone rogue, and a new version of him watches on as his past self dies again. The cycle may or may not repeat.
• Atlas is left in shambles, and the world is very likely screwed.

How It Connects to Main Zombies Lore?

It doesn’t.

Exo Zombies is a completely separate timeline. No mention of Group 935, Aether, Dark Aether, Samantha Maxis, or Richtofen. Instead, it’s a satirical sci-fi horror story about a hyper-capitalist tech giant trying to monetize undeath, which frankly is more believable than some of the other stuff we’ve seen in this franchise.

TL;DR:

• Exo Zombies is exclusive to Advanced Warfare and developed by Sledgehammer, not Treyarch.
• It has no connection to Aether or Dark Aether.
• It features a Hollywood cast (Malkovich, Paxton, Bernthal, McGowan).
• The story centers on Atlas Corp creating a zombie outbreak via nanotech and cloning.
• The main antagonist ends up being Oz, who is a resurrected clone-slave of the virus itself.

It may not be “canon” in the broader Zombies universe, but in the multiverse of Call of Duty’s increasingly batshit lore, it’s earned its place—like a cyberpunk one-night stand with the undead.

Act 3: Time Travel, Blood Vials, and Monty Is God? (Black Ops III – Black Ops 4)

Now things spiral faster than Nikolai at a vodka tasting.

The original crew is back—but they’re Primis now. Different versions of themselves from a different timeline. Richtofen (this one with a plan that maybe isn’t insane) is collecting souls in canisters because a mysterious god-like figure named Dr. Monty told him to. Monty is the embodiment of the good side of the Aether. His opposite is the Shadowman, a chaos demon who looks like your sleaziest uncle turned evil Eldritch abomination.

Maps like The Giant, Der Eisendrache, Zetsubou no Shima, and Gorod Krovi have the crew traveling through dimensions to kill their own past selves and trap their souls. Yes, it’s murder-suicide meets Inception meets Scooby-Doo again, but this time with dragons and giant robots.

Eventually, in Revelations, Monty “saves” them by wiping them into a new reality… after erasing everything else. So hooray! Your reward for saving the multiverse is: eternal oblivion.

Except it doesn’t work.

Act 4: The Cycle Must End (Tag der Toten – Black Ops 4 Finale)

By this point, Treyarch had written themselves into so many timelines that they just hit the multiverse nuke button.

Tag der Toten reveals that everything was part of an infinite cycle, repeating over and over. So, to stop the madness, Primis and Ultimis (their OG versions) team up, sacrifice themselves, and erase all their timelines to give one version of humanity a clean start. The final scene shows Samantha and a young Eddie (a kid version of Richtofen) entering a new world—one untouched by Aether corruption.

It’s supposed to be the end of the Zombies saga. Then Activision said, “Cool, but what if we added Cold War zombies too?”

Act 5: You Thought It Was Over? Enter the Dark Aether (Black Ops Cold War – Vanguard – MWIII)

Welcome to Cold War, where the Aether story is reborn as Dark Aether—a new timeline! Now we’re dealing with Requiem (the CIA), Omega Group (the Soviet counterpart), and a bunch of people poking literal holes into hell using dimensional breaches.

Maps like Die Maschine, Firebase Z, and Forsaken show the consequences of breaching into the Dark Aether, where ancient entities like the Forsaken, Kortifex, and other Lovecraftian horror bosses live. Instead of Richtofen and the gang, you play as custom operators who are part of a geopolitical arms race to weaponize zombie tech. Because the 1980s needed more Cold War paranoia.

Eventually, the plot reaches Modern Warfare III Zombies where the Dark Aether infection is global, and reality itself is melting like cheese left in the sun. And yes, the finale of this arc ties directly back to Black Ops 6, because nothing is sacred and monetization must go on.

Final Thoughts (Or: What Even Was That?)

The Call of Duty Zombies storyline is what happens when you take a perfectly good zombie survival mode and let writers cook for 15 years straight without adult supervision. It’s part horror, part science fiction, part time travel paradox, and part Lovecraftian mindwarp. But somehow, against all odds, it works—mainly because the core crew is so lovable in their dysfunction.

You came for the zombie headshots. You stayed because Richtofen made you question the nature of reality while laughing maniacally.

And remember: the cycle might be broken. But knowing Treyarch, it’s probably just loading the next round.