Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly Tease That “Zombies 4” Feels Like a 'Passing of the Torch' (Exclusive)

Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly tell PEOPLE that the upcoming fourth film feels "bigger" and "better" than anything they've done before

Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly are teasing what’s to come for the Zombies franchise.

Following the release of Zombies 3 in July 2022, the hit Disney Channel musical franchise is continuing the story with both an animated series and an upcoming fourth installment.

Though a release date for Zombies 4 hasn’t been announced yet, Manheim and Donnelly tease ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series, premiering on Disney Channel on June 28, will be a nice “buffer” as fans wait for the next installment.

“Zombies 4 is a bit more of a spectacle, and the reanimated series is more home, if you will,” Manheim teases, noting that “devout” fans will experience “all the nostalgia” and “inside jokes” from the original franchise.

In PEOPLE’s exclusive clip below, the cast shares their favorite musical numbers from the new series, including “revamped” songs from the original movies such as a nostalgic spin on “My Year.”

While the Zombies series serves as its own standalone, Manheim recalls that filming it at the same time as Zombies 4 was really nostalgic as the former reminded him of the “lightheartedness” of his character in the first film. “It was a good reminder for me to bring some life back to the movies and to bring some youthfulness back to Zed,” he says, noting that the animated series and upcoming fourth film “complement each other” in a nice way.

With the fourth film, which will be titled Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Donnelly notes that bringing in a slew of new characters to the franchise gave her “a whole new appreciation for the movies,” with Manheim adding it was “a nice passing of the torch.”

From the cast to the production, Manheim teases the fourth film will be “really elevated,” noting that everything feels “bigger” and “better” this time around.

“Personally, it's my favorite soundtrack of any of the movies,” Manheim says. “It's shot like a feature film, it's almost like Marvel. When it comes down to it, the story, the theme of this movie just hits the hardest for me. When we were in the table read, hearing these lines and hearing the themes of Zombies come through again in such a strong way that really tugged on my heartstrings.”

Additionally, the new film marks a first for the duo as they serve as executive producers, which Donnelly says was an incredible “honor.” “We've lived with these characters for so long in the world, so just to have say and creative say in what was going on was just really cool,” she adds.

After playing these characters together for the past six years, Donnelly adds their chemistry as Zed and Addison came super naturally in the fourth film. “We grew up together in so many different parts of our lives,” Donnelly explains. “It is just a second nature at this point. I just feel like we're just so connected at this point. It's really special. All of these years have just been leading up to this.”

“We're very close in many ways,” Manheim adds of their friendship. Since the beginning, I've loved Meg so much. We've had such a great bond, but it's become so familial. At first, it was really exciting, we were just two kids getting thrown into it, but now it's like Meg, oftentimes, is my rock that I can lean on.”

“This is a really unique experience that not a lot of people get to go on,” he adds. “So I just become more and more grateful that I have Meg by my side going through this and so many other amazing Zombies cast members. We spent years of our lives together creating this universe and seriously, there's nobody I'd rather have gone on this adventure with.”

With both the series and the fourth film, Manheim hopes fans are “fulfilled” with the stories. “I hope that Zombies 4 brings them as much warmth and excitement and peace as it brought us,” he adds. “Every aspect of Zombies 4 excites me. There's nothing lacking and it's quite possibly the best movie.”

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ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series debuts on Disney Channel on June 28 with a two-episode premiere, followed by all episodes on Disney+ on June 29.

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