We all know that no one is safe in the world of ‘The Walking Dead‘, but are you ready for a zombie-infested world without ANY of the main cast?  No Rick?  No Carl?  No Michonne?  No Daryl?  Well, it’s coming.  We’ve known for some time now that the producers were cooking up a spin-off, or companion series, and early indication would be that the new show would take place in a completely different location and be set before the zombie apocalypse and that viewers would see the initial outbreak, something that was skipped over in the original series, as Rick was lying in a coma during all that and only woke up after Atlanta had become a ghost town… er walker town?

Just as the shock of the mid-season finale of ‘The Walking Dead’ is wearing off, details about the new show, reportedly called ‘Cobalt’ are surfacing, mainly that we have a cast forming. ‘Gang Related’ alum Cliff Curtis has been cast as the male lead, a divorced gym teacher named Sean Cabrera, who has a son Cody, who is described as “rage-filled” and a flower-child ex-wife named Andrea.  Sean, meanwhile is “a good man trying to do right by everyone in his life.”

Andrea isn’t the lead female character though.  Sean has a female coworker, a guidance counselor named Nancy Tompkins, who is described as “edgy,” and is a single mother struggling with two older children.  That role has not yet been cast, but as earlier reported, her two kids have.

Frank Dilane (‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’) plays Nick, Nancy’s older child, a troubled boy who has struggled with drug addiction and other bad behaviors.  He is described as “not having the skills to live on his own” despite wanting “to leave.”  (Obviously, this is before the outbreak.)

Alycia Debnam Carey (‘Into The Storm’) will play Nick’s younger sister Ashley who is his exact opposite, ambitious and looking forward to life on her own, apart from her mother, who is described as “edgy.”  Once again, “ambitious” hints at life pre-apocalypse… I’m not sure what being ambitious afterward would mean.  Becoming the next Governor?

No word yet on who gets eaten first.

Since fans are so ravenous for anything ‘Walking Dead’, it would be a good idea to position this show in rotation with the original series, the way AMC has rotated in its other signature shows like ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ so that there was always  a must-see show in that Sunday night time slot.

The pilot will be directed by Adam Davidson.

Are you interested in a spin-off series?  Or do you think this could dilute the quality of the original?  Are you interested in a ‘Walking Dead’ without the established characters and the Atlanta setting?

Source: Cinema BlendThe Hollywood Reporter