Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires throws longtime main characters Zed (Milo Manheim) and Addison (Meg Donnelly) into a conflict between vampires and daywalkers, but how does it all end? The movie is the fourth installment in the Disney Channel musical franchise, which kicked off in 2018.

2025’s Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires sees Zed and Addison determined to put their noses to the grindstone over the summer to improve at football and cheerleading before their sophomore years at Mountain College. However, they find themselves acting as camp counselors when their car breaks down in vampire and daywalker territory.

Both factions, who each have deep fear and distrust of the other, rely on the nearby orchard’s dwindling supply of bloodfruit to survive. However, the orchard is blocked by a gate that can only be opened if the younger generations – led by daywalker heir Nova (Freya Skye) and vampire heir Victor (Malachi Barton) – can work together.

However, both Nova and Victor are encouraged to stab the other side in the back once the gate is opened. Their incipient doubts develop even more when forbidden love blossoms between the two characters, reminding Zed and Addison of their own courtship in 2018’s Zombies.

What Happens In Zombies 4’s Ending

Zed & Addison Help Save The Day Once Again

Zombies 4 ultimately ends with all the core characters learning important lessons. The original movie musical ends with Zed and Addison’s example showing the daywalkers and the vampires that they can work together. However, there is a great deal of conflict that takes place before this can happen.

The final movement of the story begins when the gate is opened, and it is revealed that Nova was encouraged by her father, Commander Bright (Jonno Roberts), to seize all the bloodfruit. Commander Bright and the vampire leader, Eldress (Lisa Chappell) then use their powers to fight, accidentally burning down half the orchard in the process.

Instead of deciding to split their now even more limited resources, the leaders begin to escalate this conflict into an all-out war. However, Nova and Victor convince the younger generation to help them steal the valuable Lightstone and Darkstone that power their respective towns.

They unite the two stones, which are actually two halves of one Moonstone, in the cauldron room, where the roots of the bloodfruit lead. Combining the power of the two stones both revives the orchard and stops the pulse that has been threatening the local monster community.

In the process, the daywalkers and vampires put together the clues from their camp adventure, realizing that the two factions used to work together and combine their Moonstones once a year in order to harvest a bounty that served them both. Distrust eventually led to a schism that only made things worse for both sides.

Additionally, Zed and Addison learn a lesson at the same time as they are teaching one. By seeing love and friendship grow between the two groups, they are reminded of how much they love each other, as well as their friends back home.

They ultimately decide to spend more time with the people in their lives rather than ruthlessly chase their goals at the cost of everything else.

Does Zombies 4 Set Up A Sequel?

There Are Multiple Clues About Zombies 5

The possible sequel Zombies 5 has not yet been greenlit by Disney. However, the new movie drops multiple clues about what the follow-up would be about if it comes to fruition. The first is the legacy sequel format that the movie takes, setting up a new generation of characters who can step in to replace Zed, Addison, and their friends.

In fact, the majority of the characters from the first three movies are absent from the Zombies 4 cast, with only Zed, Addison, Willa (Chandler Kinney), and Eliza (Kylee Russell) returning. However, the vampire and daywalker groups introduce a number of new characters, including Ray (Julian Lerner), Vera (Swayam Bhatia), and Vargas (Mekonnen Knife).

This would seem to indicate that the franchise is slowly de-emphasizing its former lead characters in order for subsequent installments to primarily or entirely focus on the vampires and daywalkers. That approach is also implied by a line where Zed and Addison sing “We’re pᴀssing you the torch, so don’t hesitate“ to Nova and Victor.

An even more concrete sequel tease comes in the final scene between Victor and Nova. After they embrace, implying that their romance will continue to develop, an enormous water funnel emerges from the ocean beside them, implying that the next installment will introduce aquatic monsters.

These monsters will most likely be mermaids, which were shown to already be a part of the franchise’s universe in the animated epilogue to Zombies 3.

The Real Meaning Of Zombies 4: Dawn Of The Vampires

Xenophobia Never Pays Off

Zombies 4 carries on the franchise’s tradition of having its storyline be an allegory for teaching viewers how to accept and embrace minority groups and overcome prejudice. In the original movie, the zombies were presented as a stand-in for a wide-ranging roster of real-world topics including school integration and even apartheid.

The subsequent Disney Channel movies added even more messaging along the same lines. In Zombies 2, the werewolves could be read as an allegory for how indigenous populations are treated by colonizers, while Zombies 3 used the introduction of aliens as a metaphor for immigration.

Zombies 4 does not necessarily present the daywalkers and the vampires as stand-ins for specific groups of people, as the conflict is between two factions of equal size and power rather than a majority group and a minority group. This makes the movie more of a standard Romeo & Juliet story about love blossoming in spite of a longstanding feud.

However, that approach services Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, because that mode of storytelling is inherently about characters overcoming prejudice towards another group of people that they have been taught to hate by the older generation. While this theme is slightly less specific, it flows well with the franchise’s overall values.