The Walking Dead companion series is expected to start shooting soon. This new show will be based on Image Comics/Skybound series from Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, according to ComicBook . The series will air during The Walking Dead’s off-schedule time, increasing the popularity of the already massively successful horror show and drama.
There isn’t much to report about the Walking Dead companion series as of yet, other than that it’s set in California. A member on Reddit received a notification that their neighborhood is currently being scoped out for the spinoff. Filming for the Walking Dead companion series is also supposed to take place in Pennsylvania, but they could also film the pilot in California and move the rest of the series elsewhere to reduce costs.
The @WalkingDead_AMC Companion Series: Everything We Know So Far http://t.co/wu0DUyFmY3 pic.twitter.com/MsuINYIhBH
— Comicbook.com (@ComicBookdotcom) December 28, 2014
The Walking Dead companion series is expected to take place early on, before the zombie apocalypse even happened.
“There’s increasing buzz that the offshoot will be a prequel of sorts, one that would chronicle the early days of the epidemic and the effort to contain it,” according to one of the earliest reports about The Walking Dead companion series.
Sorry Walking Dead fans, but this spinoff does not have any ties or links to existing characters or stories from either the television show or the comics. Robert Kirkman already quashed this rumor down in one of his earliest remarks about the spinoff.
“I can say that it will be another group of characters, surviving in another part of the world. And it’s not going to use any of the core cast from our show. The show will continue uninterrupted, as if the other show doesn’t exist. But the other show will kind of be its own entity.”
Producer Greg Nicotero later admitted that the spinoff would be an entirely separate entity.
“We’re sort of treating the spin-off as a completely separate entity. That was something that was very, very important when the notion of a companion series was even brought up. Many of us, the actors and the executive producers, wanted to make sure that anything we did, we didn’t want it to diminish our story, our storyline, our characters and the momentum that we have. So the intent is that it is going to be its own standalone world.”
However, one character from the Walking Dead may make an appearance. Actor Juan Gabriel Pareja, who appeared in the show’s first season, is listed as a cast member for the Walking Dead’s spinoff series. Rumors on social media are saying that his character isn’t entirely dead or removed from the series.
Cliff Curtis will play the male lead, while Kim Dickens will play the female lead of the Walking Dead spinoff series. Curtis’ character is described as “a good man trying to do right by everyone in his life.” Dickens will play a guidance counselor at the same school as Curtis’ character, a teacher. The two are in the midst of a relationship during the zombie outbreak.
The companion series is said to debut next year. If you can’t get enough of the Walking Dead , you can settle for a back-to-back marathon starting on New Year’s Eve. The marathon continues into Friday with back-to-back episodes of Season 5’s first eight episodes into the early hours of Saturday. This will give you plenty of time to get your Walking Dead fix until the midseason premiere on Feb. 8 at 9 p.m. on AMC.
Norman Reedus plans to stay in bed and watch the Walking Dead marathon, according to a recent report on the Inquisitr . When asked on a Reddit chat what he wanted for Christmas, “[A] movie marathon in bed with a mountain of chocolate in a panda bear onesie.” Sounds like he’s a dedicated Walking Dead fan as well.
[Image by AMC]