ENTERTAINMENT

Zombies: From Future Sci-Fi to Today's Survival

Tue Dec 10 2024
Neatly dressed walkers wandering around a city where hovercars replace cars and skyscrapers touch the clouds. This was originally the plan for "The Walking Dead. " The creators, led by Robert Kirkman, initially brainstormed a story set in an advanced, futuristic world. Here, zombies would cause chaos in a technologically superior society. However, instead of pursuing this sci-fi route, the story was brought back to the present. This surprising shift happened because Kirkman wanted the focus to be on something other than just jump scares. He envisioned a profound exploration of characters, which turned "The Walking Dead" into more than just a horror flick. Characters like Rick Grimes and Negan became cultural icons. Surprisingly, Kirkman also toyed with the idea of a spin-off without any zombies at all, further emphasizing his focus on characters over gore.

questions

    How does the focus on characters rather than zombies set The Walking Dead apart from other zombie media?
    How would the pacing of the story change if it were set over decades instead of a shorter timeframe?
    Would a futuristic zombie apocalypse have included self-driving zombie cars?

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