Comic series creator and executive producer, Robert Kirkman, for AMC’s The Walking Dead reflects on the first season of his hit adapted show and says he wishes they had offed more major characters in the process.
“If anything, if I were to criticize the first season at all—which I think went great—I would say, I wish we had killed more people,” said Kirkman.
In the first season of The Walking Dead, which ran a short but explosive six episodes, fans of the comic were treated to new characters and new plot-lines that weren’t in the books, but the show never deviated too far from the source material to the point of controversy for avid readers. From a critical standpoint, the additions that were concocted strictly for the TV adaptation were welcome changes and made for some surprises that would keep hardcore fans of the comic on their toes. Kirkman spoke out on newcomer Norman Reedus, who plays fan favorite Daryl Dixon – one of the new characters created just for the TV show.
“I don’t want to make out with the dude, or anything. But he’s awesome. I’m totally jealous of how badass that guy is. He literally is my favorite character in the show. He’s not my favorite actor on the show. [Laughs] But he is my favorite character,” said Kirkman.
Reedus was not the only new standout on The Walking Dead as Michael Rooker, who plays Reedus’ brother Merle Dixon was also a welcome addition to the program and as the first season came to a close, many were left pondering what exactly happened to him? The last thing viewers saw of Merle was his severed hand and evidence that he escaped into Atlanta on his own.
“We will definitely see Michael Rooker again. We probably won’t see every little piece of him. There’s all kinds of cool stuff we can do. I definitely want to see Morgan and Duane come back at some point and find out what happened to them. There’s lots of little threads in there to keep people interested for next season,” said Kirkman.
During the finale, it was hinted that France was the last country to hold out before crumbling to the zombie apocalypse and Kirkman teased the possibilities that maybe the group could venture to another country.
“A couple of seasons ago you probably didn’t think the bikers from Sons of Anarchy were going to go to Ireland. But that happened. Who knows, man?”
Although nothing is set in stone, he went on to mention that writing for the second season would commence soon enough as The Walking Dead is looking to return to AMC by next October, 2011, this time as a 13 episode full meal deal.
“There’s been a little bit of behind the scenes stuff going on between the producers on the show and AMC, just figuring out when we’re going to get started and how we are going to do things and what our overall plan for season two is. That kind of stuff has been going on. But I don’t think any actual heavy work will be happening until after Christmas,” said Kirkman.
