George Romero talks building Marvel’s ‘Empire of the Dead’

(CBR) Details have surfaced on what exactly legendary horror director and screenwriter George A. Romero has in the works at Marvel Comics in an interview with USA Today. It’s a 15-issue, January 2014-debuting series titled “Empire of the Dead,” based on a 300-page screenplay by Romero, and illustrated by artist Alex Maleev, who has been working on “Batman” books at DC Comics as of late.

The series depicts Romero’s hometown of New York City, post-zombie apocalypse. “Empire of the Dead” is said to have “strong social and political elements,” and explore whether or not humans and and a more intelligent class of zombies can co-exist. The series is also said to contain a “major twist,” which will be revealed next week at New York Comic Con.

“It’s a comic book, which means we don’t have to go out and shoot the stuff,” Romero told USA Today. “You can let your imagination run wild and do pretty much anything you want, assuming it’s within the bounds of decency.”

Romero first discussed working with Marvel in October 2012, disclosing that the project would contain zombies, but not superheroes or any of Marvel’s existing characters. In February 2013, Marvel released an official teaser for the series, with the Marvel logo accompanied by the blood-splattered words “of the dead.”

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