Since he's talking about reviving popular characters, I don't think he's talking about zombies, I think he's talking about having characters actually come back to life through plot reason. Like, if Ace actually came back to life.
If Oda hated reviving characters as zombies, I doubt he would have made the Shadow Fruit to begin with.
Also, I find it hilarious that this is real when Oda has so many fake-out deaths...