The Walking Deadis a very grounded story that takes place in the modern day, but it originally had a sci-fi setting no fan could have ever expected. Since the danger humanity faces between the zombies and other hostile humans is pretty realistic in the original comic, it’s shocking to learn thatThe Walking Deadby Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard was originally going to take a completely different direction.
When it comes to telling a story, it’s very rare that the first iteration of the story is what actually makes it to print. As reported byCBR, instead of being a zombie apocalypse set in the modern day,The Walking Deadnearly had two different settings.One of the first ideas was that instead of taking place in contemporary times,The Walking Deadwould take place on Earth in the far future with the extra twist of a utopian society.
The story would then follow the future of this society as it fell to the zombie apocalypse over the span of decades.
While there’s no denying thatThe Walking Deadis a classicand a seminal hit, it’s interesting thatit was almost completely different.The Walking Deadisn’t bad by any means, but there isn’t anything about it that is a major departure from most zombie media. The story is about people trying to survive an apocalypse. But what sets this zombie story apart is the quality of the writing. But Kirkman’s original idea is something that really hasn’t been done before. The idea of witnessing a society fall to an undead plague over the course of decades, with each decade following a different set of characters, would’ve been a great new direction for the genre.
Kirkman himself has stated that he always viewedThe Walking Deadas a character study above all else. While the story certainly includes zombies, they were only added to make the story more commercial. They added that general appeal which would make it a lot easier to sell to the masses, which very clearly worked. ButKirkman always intended for the main focus of the story to be on the characters, which is one of the biggest story choices that sets it apart from most other zombie media of the time, which mostly just focused on having people die in horrific and gory ways.
It’s no surprise that Kirkman almost created a spin-off that focused entirely on the characters - without the zombies.
Characters like the Governor and especially Negan have stayed in the cultural memory for quite a while.Negan proved so popularthat he even showed up as a guest character inTekken, which is honestly kind of absurd. Negan even got his own spin-off TV show with another character. It’s hard to overstatejust how much the characters ofThe Walking Deadhave resonated with fans. Rick Grimes was considered one of the best heroes on TV whenThe Walking Deadwas at its height. It’s no surprise that Kirkman almost created a spin-off that focused entirely on the characters - without the zombies.
Jim Was Almost the Main Character of His Own Spin-Off
One of the many ideas that Kirkman had for the series was a spin-off known as the “Jim trilogy of books.” These stories would’ve focused on the character of Jim, a minor mechanic character who escaped Atlanta with the help of his family. The trilogy of Jim would’ve thenfocused solely on Jim and his family as they continued to live in the apocalypseand the extended cast of characters that they meet. This kind of storytelling would apparently be so far removed from the normalThe Walking Deadthat most readers might not even realize it’s the same character named Jim.
Kirkman is also known for his original seriesInvinciblewith artist Ryan Ottley, available now in collected editions from Image Comics.
One of the things that Kirkman seemed to be amused by was the idea that fans might realize that Jim is the same character fromThe Walking Dead.They’d then eagerly await for the zombies to arrive and disrupt Jim’s life - but that simply wouldn’t happen.The zombies would never appear.The trilogy would just focus on Jim living his life and how he interacts with his family. It likely would have been a compelling character-driven drama, as that’s what Kirkman seems to do best.
But the Moder-Day Classic Has Already Come to a Close
The Walking Deadis a fantastic series, but it was almost so much different. It’s clear that Kirkman had so many ideas for the saga, but for the sake of having a comprehensible story and being able to sell it,he simply wasn’t able to explore all the ideas that he originally had. SettingThe Walking Deadin the modern day certainly made it more palatable for the general audience, but it wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as Kirkman’s original idea of a futuristic society being destroyed by zombies.
The Walking Dead Creator’s “Strongest Character” Is A Harsh Reminder That Carl’s Death Was A Huge Mistake
The Walking Dead creator once referred to Carl Grimes as the strongest character in the series, which makes his death in the TV show even more tragic.
As Kirkman’s greatest strength is character writing, it’s also disappointing that he never got to explore the Jim trilogy. Still, even without all of those potential story directions,The Walking Deadhas still cemented itself in zombie and comic-book history.
Source:CBR
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadis a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television seriesThe Walking Deadin 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as “walkers.” The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
