The Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman Keeps the Comic’s Ending from Show Producers

The continuing success of Robert Kirkman’s multimedia empire of The Walking Dead may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but, with the hit television show starting Season 7 and the original comic book series recently celebrating its 13^th anniversary, it’s impossible to deny the staying power. Thus, it’s natural to wonder if the creator has a story resolution in mind. Well, he does, but he’s not telling anyone, not even the hit show’s brain (eater) trust.

In an interview with EW, Kirkman reflects on The Walking Dead comic book and television series. While the AMC cable phenomenon – which debuted in 2010 – continues to adapt Kirkman’s original 2003-launched comic title, the creator is quick to acknowledge that story deviations made from the panels to the television screen yielded results that he wishes he had originally conceived. However, the comic remains the proverbial North Star with which the show still navigates. While Kirkman has no intention of ending the long-running comic, he does have an overall endgame in mind for his undead mythology. As he explains:

“Yeah, I know exactly how it ends, and I’m always taking baby steps toward that point as I’m telling the story. I know what the end point is, and at the end of the day, I want this entire long narrative to be a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. We’re just spending a lot of time in the middle, so, I kind of have to know what that direction is, and I have to know what that end point is to be able to keep building towards it. I think that’s the only way to keep it alive.”

Theories about the The Walking Dead mythology pertaining to not only the end, but the initial cause of the zombie outbreak (like the one claiming that it was connected to Walter White’s Blue Sky meth from Breaking Bad,) continue to make the rounds. It’s almost the exact reverse of the dilemma that Game of Thrones fans face, with the inevitability that the HBO television show – which wraps up with two abbreviated seasons – will essentially spoil the endgame of George R.R. Martin’s notoriously stalled A Song of Ice of and Fire novel series on which the show was originally based; a scenario in which Kirkman previously vowed to craft a different ending, should it ever happen to The Walking Dead.

While Kirkman does collaborate with The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple, he keeps his cards close to his chest regarding the end point – unlike George R.R. Martin, who allegedly divulged the ASOIAF endgame to the Game of Thronesshowrunners. As Kirkman explains of his relationship with The Walking Dead’s television creative coalition:

“No, there’s no communication whatsoever. They have no approval over what happens in the comic. Scott Gimple is an avid reader of the comic, and prefers to experience the comic book as a reader, so he gets the advance issues as they’re published, but he doesn’t read scripts. He gets mad at me if I give him any kind of indication as to what’s coming, because he doesn’t like spoilers. So, they’re kind of a hundred percent in the dark, which I guess is pretty remarkable, and I would probably say it’s a testament to the trust that AMC has in me. I mean, I guess to a certain extent, at this point, the comic book is kind of a workshop of future seasons of the show, and it’s fun to think that I can just completely torpedo the story if I wanted to.”

Consequently, the secret crescendo to Kirkman’s zombie apocalypse universe remains firmly in the protective safe of his own mind. Will Rick Grimes finally achieve his goal of creating a stable, cooperative society for his surviving friends and family in the aftermath of devastation? Or, will the multimedia mythology in which millions remain emotionally invested ultimately conclude with our heroes funneled into wanton tragedy? Well, as Kirkman himself confesses in the interview when asked about favorite characters, “I don’t really have a favorite. I tend to kill those.” – We’ll just leave it at that, for now.