- A race of smarter zombies will be introduced in the final episodes of “The Walking Dead”.
- Showrunner Angela Kang told the press at SDCC that they are a return to some walkers in season one.
- Though clever, it’s something that should have been introduced seasons ago and feels like it was added to simply serve future spin-offs.
When “The Walking Dead” returns to TV this fall for its final eight-episode run, it will finally tackle one of season one’s biggest zombie plot holes.
What was up with those smarter walkers who could pick up rocks, smash them through doors, and try to climb ladders in the first season of the show that was never referenced again?
Some walkers were able to pick up rocks in season one, episode two of “The Walking Dead.”
AMC
At the show’s San Diego Comic-Con press conference, which Insider attended, showrunner Angela Kang and the cast were asked about a newer breed of the undead. teased at the end of the show’s latest trailer. Kang said their addition wasn’t random, saying they have ties to the very beginning of the show.
“I think with the walkers in some ways it’s a return to some walkers we saw in the very first season of ‘The Walking Dead,’ but not everyone has ever come across those walkers,” Kang told the press. “It’s almost like it was a variant that was just regional.”
The final eight episodes of the show are expected to introduce a faster race of the undead. In the show’s latest trailer, which debuted at San Diego Comic-Con, Aaron (Ross Marquand) said he had heard stories of walkers who could climb walls and open doors. We then see a plague of a hiker making his way over a fence.
In the trailer for the final episodes of ‘The Walking Dead’, a walker appears to be climbing over a fence.
AMC
‘TWD’ universe hinted at a different kind of walkers in a spin-off show in December 2021
Their addition is not entirely shocking.
The universe “Walking Dead” recently introduced the idea of a variant of faster walkers. During a five-minute coda scene following the series finale of spin-off “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” last December, virologist Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) season 1 of “TWD” a “variant cohort” that he has not yet seen in the United States.
Viewers then see a woman, who was shot and killed, resuscitate faster than we’re used to seeing. (Normally it takes a few hours or more for someone to turn into a zombie). The zombified woman seemed faster and more aggressive than the walkers fans in the universe have become accustomed to.
The series finale “World Beyond” seemingly introduced a new kind of zombie into the “TWD” universe.”
AMC
Most disturbingly, the woman performed CPR despite being shot in the head. Usually, in the “TWD” universe, when someone gets shot in the head, they die and don’t get zombified. Unless the bullet handily missed the woman’s brain, “TWD: World Beyond” coda suggested there’s a type of undead that’s much harder to kill or just doesn’t die.
At the time, “TWD” universe chief Scott M. Gimple told Insider the walker is not super powerful, but different,” Gimple said. “I hope people’s imaginations are ‘activated’ for what that could mean and what we could see .”
These smarter walkers should have been introduced years ago rather than as a footnote to the show’s final episodes.
A hiker grabs onto a ladder as if to climb it and follows Rick in season one, episode two of “The Walking Dead.”
AMC
During the press conference, Kang added that the walkers teased in the new trailer will keep Daryl and the rest of the survivors on their toes.
“Every time there’s a change in the rules, it means our people just have to be so much more in their game because they realize that the methods they use to survive don’t quite work the same way,” Kang told. the press. “Our survivors, who are very, very smart, will try to adapt to that. But that will be just one of the many conflicts they face.”
It’s not that the group really needs another threat to be introduced in the last eight episodes. The show also needs to wrap up its massive Commonwealth storyline from the comics.
The smarter zombie subplot is original to the AMC series.
Things aren’t looking great for Aaron from the “TWD” 11c trailer right now.
AMC
On the one hand, it’s a clever solution for those who regularly rewatch or revisit the first season, pointing out the noticeable difference between the walkers former showrunner Frank Darabont introduced to the series and the more docile fans they became familiar with. in later seasons.
Kang has found other clever ways since he took over “TWD” as showrunner in season nine to streamline moments from previous seasons with the present. Recently, the series made a clever political connection between Commonwealth leader Pamela Milton and a former leader of Alexandria, something the comics never did.
The introduction of smarter walkers in the final installment of “The Walking Dead,” when the season had a whopping 24 episodes, may leave some viewers wondering why this threat isn’t introduced until so late in the game.
While it’s a smart way to finally appeal to some rock-smashing walkers in season one, smarter zombies are something the show should have considered years ago to shake things up, freshen up the series and eliminate the threat of the keep the undead like that. , a threat.
While these walkers are being introduced, fans already know that certain characters like Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) will be safe because of his role in a “TWD” spin-off.
AMC
Instead, as we step into the very last eight episodes of the show starting October 2, the addition of smarter walkers feels like it’s less about delivering a legacy and paying tribute to where the show started and more about setting up. of things for the series’ many upcoming spins. -off shows, including those around Daryl, Negan and Maggie, and Rick and Michonne.
When asked at the press conference by Insider if the show will be shutting down for good or if it will have a more open ending as we move towards the series’ many spin-offs, Kang told us, “The goal is that even if there’s no spin-offs, it would feel like there’s a closing of the show.”
“The show itself needs its own ending, but doors are left open as so often in life and even at the end of the comic,” Kang added. “There’s always a story that continues when the story you’re telling on screen is finished.”