We don't know much yet about that highly anticipated Walking Dead spinoff just yet, but, turns out, that might just be because the actual creators don't know much about it yet either. In new interviews with The Hollywood Reporter, the cast and crew shared their respective idea for The Walking Dead 's spinoff, including a plot involving what's going on in other countries during the zombie attack (zombies en France?) and, wait for it...SPACE DRAGONS. If dreams come true, that will be on AMC's schedule next year.
From executive producer and creator of The Walking Dead comics, Robert Kirkman:
If I had to pick, I'd pick space dragons. (Laughs.) I've never really shown another part of the world in the comic books. There have been mentions in the show like, "They're doing this from France," but they've never shown it. So the idea of seeing another part of The Walking Dead universe and exploring that is very exciting to me. It's going to be remarkable just how different things can be just by going to a different location. The thing that really excites me most about the spinoff is that I feel like I'm in competition with my 24-year-old self and have to top myself. That's a fun challenge for me.
From showrunner Scott Gimple:
Everyone is asking me if I'll be involved, and I don't know. The Walking Dead is a 16-hour-a-day job, so I'm not banging down their door, because I still have stuff to do here. I think the Telltale game actually kicked open the door a little bit for a companion series. We saw special appearances of other characters: Clementine was a super cool story. I'd start with Lee and Clementine, then I'd look for a cool place to set it. We'd do it on an island in the South Pacific. I have no idea what I'd have to do with it, but I'm excited to see it because now I'd get to watch The Walking Dead and be surprised.
From star Danai Gurira (Michonne):
I would love to see how the government responded to the outbreak and how it crumbled. The amount of security systems this country has to see that start: What was it? How did they find out and see them as they know it got out of hand. I'd love to go right into that situation room. You always want to know more from that. Cracking more into how that all broke down and what that looked like.
I was skeptical about this spinoff when it was first announced a month ago, and even though it seems like it could really work if the idea is different enough, I still am. The Walking Dead is a great show, but I fear the addition of another series with the exact same theme of a zombie apocalypse could just make it all seem like overkill, or force people to get sick of the idea. It's highly unlikely that space dragons will be involved (unfortunately), so what is there really left for them to do? Create another series set in another part of the world with a different group of survivors, grappling with different issues both moral and physical? Same shit, different continent, and with characters that we don't even care about yet. At least in Breaking Bad's Saul spinoff, we know Saul Goodman.
I can definitely see AMC going with an idea similar to Gimple's, however, which just so happens to be the best one. It could be slightly intriguing to see a bit of the breakdown of the government per Gurira's suggest, but only for an episode or so — when it comes to the longterm, sticking to a character already somewhat familiar to audiences and building off that, far away from Rick Grimes and the prison, might be the best bet to ensure this series stands on its own, without The Walking Dead.
Or space dragons. Either way.
