The man behind "The Avengers," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly" released a satirical video endorsing Mitt Romney this Halloween weekend, saying the Republican candidate has some unique qualifications.

Romney has "the vision and determination to cut through business as usual politics and finally put this country back on the path to a zombie apocalypse," writer and director Joss Whedon says in the joke video .

Users watched the parody more than 800,000 times during its first 24 hours on the Internet.

Though clearly joking, Whedon plays on themes used in more serious ads. Romney has promised to create 12 million jobs to help lift Americans out of poverty, but Whedon warns that a Romney administration would favor the wealthy, leading to economic and societal deterioration.

"It's his commitment to ungoverned corporate privilege that will nosedive this economy into true insolvency and chaos, the kind of chaos you can't buy back," Whedon says. "Money is only so much paper to the undead."

Whedon also warns against a Romney agenda on social issues: "Romney is ready to make the deep rollbacks in health care, education, social services, reproductive rights that will guarantee poverty, unemployment, overpopulation, disease, rioting: all crucial elements in creating a nightmare zombie wasteland."

The video mimics actual campaign ads, showing Whedon in his home and speaking directly to the camera while seeming to go about his normal routine - which turns out to be stocking up for the pending apocalypse.

It's not the first video to warn of a bleak future, depending on who wins.

Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza grossed $1.2 million with his documentary " Obama 2016 " in August. D'Souza told ABC News that month that the film was a look at "just how different" Obama's upbringing makes him.

The film depicts how a second term for President Obama would affect the nation, arguing that Obama harbors resentment for whites and Christians that will lead the country to disaster.

Last week, humorist John Hodgman tweeted a link to an unclaimed video that imitates a History Channel special from 2016, reflecting on a Romney administration.

"The Romney Presidency: A (Plausible) Look Back: http://youtu.be/y9cZ1FklzAw via @ youtube ," Hodgman said in the tweet. The video predicts a new economic collapse and a war with Iran.

With fewer than 120,000 views, that video does not have the popularity of Whedon's or D'Souza's. It also does not have zombies.