The season finale of AMC’s zombie drama ‘The Walking Dead’ left fans clamoring for more. The final few moments of that episode revealed the first appearances of both the character Michonne, who is a fan favorite in the Image comic series, and the infamous prison that is home to the Governor.
But, since the television version of ‘Walking Dead’ has veered away from the comic book’s storyline to keep things from being too predictable, what exactly is coming up for Rick and his raggedy band of survivors? Yesterday at the TV Academy in North Hollywood, the cast and crew, including comic creator Robert Kirkman, executive producer Greg Nicotero, showrunner, Glen Mazzara, and actors Andrew Lincoln (Rick), Steven Yeun (Glenn), Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Scott Wilson (Hershel), Sara Callies (Lori), and Jon Bernthal (Shane), sat down and gave some teasing comments as to what’s to come.
Thanks to THR, we’ve got a few of the better tidbits to share.
Shane was always going to die. – According to Bernthal, “This end was always going to happen.” Bernthal mentioned that he’d spoken with ex-showrunner Frank Darabont and always knew that Shane’s ticket was eventually going to be punched.
Hershel was supposed to die in the season 2 finale. – It even went so far as to have actor Scott Wilson, who plays Hershel on the show, fitted with prosthetics for his death scene. Then, at the last moment, the show’s producers decided to give Hershel a new lease on life.
Robert Kirkman wants to keep pushing the zombie gore envelope. – According to Kirkman, he wants to see where the line is that AMC will not let him cross. “It’s my goal to get to that point, I want to know that limit,” Kirkman told the panel. So far, we’ve seen a waterlogged zombie ripped in half while its intestines dripped out of him and we’ve shot a young girl in the face. What else can the WD crew get away with?
Some comic deaths are still happening… just not to the same characters. – Fans of the comic series have already noticed quite a lot of changes made in the show. The season 2 finale is the perfect example of this since Shane’s death was quite different in the comic and Dale, while he does eventually get killed in the books, he doesn’t go quite this early. However, Kirkman hints that some of the more memorable deaths from the comic will still happen in the show, but not to who we’d expect. Kirkman told the panel, “There will be cases where something memorable … will be displaced and given to somebody else. He further teased when he said that, “I’ll hint that that actually happens in our first episode back in Season 3”.
…and finally T-Dog will finally start getting some proper respect on the show. – Mazzara has noted that many fans, especially on the show’s Twitter following, have pointed out that T-Dog (played by IronE Singleton)doesn’t do much but stand by and watch unless there’s physical labor to be done. Mazzara say that the reason behind this is that T-Dog has chosen to sit back and watch rather than get involved but that he’ll be stepping out of the shadows in season 3.
For more details on the ‘Walking Dead’ panel, check out The Hollywood Reporter.
What do you think? What do you want to see happen in season 3 of ‘The Walking Dead’? Comment below and let us know.
