Robert Kirkman Talks Rick, Shane and The Governor from "The Walking Dead"

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Robert Kirkman Talks Rick, Shane and The Governor In "The Walking Dead"!
February 23, 2012
By: EvanDickson


IGN recently sat down with exec. producer Robert Kirkman to discuss the growing conflict between Rick and Shane and the rumors that popular comic book characters Michonne and The Governor may be coming to the series.





Rick and Shane:

It definitely does seem like a big split in the group, you know when people start following Shane and start following Rick. I wouldn't want to not count that theory, but I will say that those 2 men are heading towards some big conflict.

Aside from the leadership role that they have to deal with, they both have conflicting ideas on what's best for the group, they also have the small matter of Lori to fight over. Both men think that she is carrying their baby and that's a bit of a powder keg that is just sitting in the back waiting to blow up.

You know it will probably blow up in the next episode or so (laughs).







The Farm:

If you read the comic book, and you should read the comic book because it's cool right, they don't stay on the farm for very long in the comic. While we do drift away sometimes from what was done in the comic, I don't think we would get to the point where they would stay on the farm forever.

So yeah, they will be off of the farm some time soon.







The Governor and Michonne:

The people that want to see these people more than the fans are the people who work on this show. We can definitely expect to see them at some point in the future. Whether that will be in this season, or next season, or the season after that remains to be seen. We want to keep some sort of surprise.

One of my favorite things that aired in the episode this week was when Michael Raymond James was being manipulative and he appears threatening but also tries to seem like he's being kind. I think that he has a Governor-vibe. A lot of the comic fans who watched the episode were like "He's the Governor!". They were looking forward to the conflict with Rick... and then he's shot in the head.

I like that idea of playing with people's expectations and I want to maintain that. I cannot reveal when exactly they will show up but we definitely want it to happen.







Differences from the Comic:

I think that the diversions are necessary to make the show appealing for someone who is very familiar with the comic. For the average fan who may not be familiar with the comic it's a very appealing story. We do use a lot from the comic and it does feel like a very good adaptation.

One of my main concerns as a writer in the writer's room and as an executive producer of the show is that we maintain that area of uncertainty. When you first sit down to read an issue of The Walking Dead you have no idea on what's going to happen. You don't know who's going to live and who's going to die. Anybody can get eaten at any time and I would hate to lose that edge.





The people who know the comic will watch the show and go 'OK, and here on Page 6... this happens' and that's not really any fun. We will be adjusting things as they move along.

For example, things like having Shane live and Sophia dying and then that leads on to other new stories. Shane then killed Otis and I'd like to think that had Shane lived in the comic like how he does on the show, you know then Otis may not have been shot. It's cool to see how things like this go.





We will also adapt some scenes directly from how they were portrayed in the comic, but we will be arriving at those scenes in different ways to make it more interesting.

An example of this is Carl getting shot in the Season 2 premiere. The way that that happened is exactly the way it happened in the comic. However what lead up to it was different, and even fans of the comic jumped at that moment. Even I still jump at that and I try to stop myself.

That's the best of both worlds so we will be definitely going down that track.

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