The Walking Dead‘s spinoff series (aka Cobalt) is ready to start shooting very soon. Instead of the Atlanta-based locales we’ve come to expect from the mothership, this series will take place in L.A., which bodes well for those who like their walkers skipping to a neon soundscape provided by Kavinsky. Comic book creator and TV show producer Robert Kirkman stopped by Entertainment Weekly to chat about how this series will be vastly different. Keyword here is different.
I will say that this is going to be a show about family. But it’s going to be a show about a different type of family that we haven’t explored in The Walking Dead thus far. So what we’re trying to do with The Walking Dead spinoff is keep the story as familiar as possible for people that love The Walking Dead, so you’ll get the kind of things that you expect from a Walking Dead story. But, at the same time, we’ll want to tell these stories in a completely different way with completely different people in a completely different setting that’s going to make for a fundamentally different show. I think the look and feel of The Walking Dead spinoff is going to be startlingly different.
That’s — count ’em — six references to the show being different. That’s a lot of differentials. The change in locale also allows for a dynamic that was presented in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead: zombie celebrities. Just imagine the spinoff counterpart to Daryl Dixon — who for the time being we’ll call Marrol Hickson — hunting down zombified versions of Elizabeth Banks and Jeremy Renner with a slingshot (Kirkman, I’m available for rewrites). Bobby Kirk also emphasized that it’s not necessary to watch the original AMC show in order to understand the spinoff’s direction.
You could watch The Walking Dead spinoff if you’ve never watched an episode of The Walking Dead and get a really great, rich, fulfilling experience out of it. It has to be a show that can stand on its own. I think that’s what we’ve accomplished, and we start filming in a couple of days. I’m really excited.
Seasoned TV director Adam Davidson (Community) will helm the pilot set to air next year. Chances are, the show will be really different.
