The Walking Dead Fans Defend Early Virus Reveal

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Summary

  • Fans appreciate The Walking Dead for revealing the infection early, adding an extra layer of threat.
  • Creator Robert Kirkman regretted revealing too much early, compared to his comics.
  • Series spinoffs could further explore the zombie virus origin, previously revealed in The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

As a dedicated fan of “The Walking Dead”, I’ve been captivated by its 12-year run on AMC, the show that brought zombies back into our living rooms. One mystery that’s always intrigued us is the origin of the zombie virus. Yet, it was cleverly kept under wraps by the creators. While some details were left unsaid, I think most fans are content with the way the show handled this enigma. Thankfully, the question of how people become infected was tackled early on in the series, which made our journey through the apocalypse even more gripping and realistic.

Over the course of The Walking Dead‘s 11 seasons from 2010 to 2022, it became clear that while the undead were a significant aspect of the story because they posed a relentless and massive threat, the true essence of the show has always been about what humans had to do to survive in a world gone up in flames. In the grim post-apocalyptic setting of The Walking Dead, many choices that the main characters once had were stripped away by the virus, leaving only two options: submit or endure. Surviving in a world intent on consuming you was never simple for Rick and his group, but even though they eventually learned to adapt and fend off the infected, one of the show’s most intriguing enigmas surfaced quite early, adding another layer of difficulty to their already precarious existence.

The Walking Dead Fans Support Show’s Early Infected Reveal

On Reddit’s page dedicated to “The Walking Dead,” a fan questioned if the series unveiled the mystery of the infection too soon and whether it would have been more effective to keep this secret for a later reveal. The show generally avoided revealing much about the origin of the zombie virus, but in the first season, when the group sought answers at the CDC, Dr. Jenner confirmed that there was no cure for the outbreak, hinting to Rick Grimes that everyone was infected, whether they had been bitten or not.

Many fans of “The Walking Dead” felt that exposing a crucial aspect of the infection promptly was essential for the show, preventing the mystery from lingering excessively and intensifying the fear for the main characters. However, one viewer expressed surprise that the group was taken aback when they discovered everyone was infected, commenting, “It should have been common knowledge already. It took only a few weeks for society to crumble. There would have been enough time for news reports and announcements to confirm that anyone who was dying – from heart attacks, car accidents, old age, cancer, etc. – was rising up and attacking without having been bitten first.” To counter this argument, another fan of the series pointed out that in “The Walking Dead: Torn Apart,” a six-part web series released on October 3, 2011, it was made clear that news and power were cut off immediately, leaving individuals to rely on word of mouth or personal experiences to understand that being bitten wasn’t necessary for someone to become a walker.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Kirkman, the creator of “The Walking Dead” comics, expressed regret over AMC’s adaptation revealing too much in the CDC episode too early in the series. According to Kirkman, this may have given away crucial information that was intended to be discovered gradually by Rick and his group. In the comic version, Tyreese’s daughter is killed instead of committing suicide with her boyfriend as planned. However, when she miraculously returns without any signs of being bitten, Rick and the gang uncover the truth on their own.

In the closing moments of season 2 of “Walking Dead: World Beyond”, the origins of the zombie outbreak were unveiled, tracing back to a research facility in France. Delving deeper into the genesis of this virus and finding ways to halt its spread could make for an engaging extension of the “The Walking Dead” universe, now that Robert Kirkman’s comic series has concluded.

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2025-02-14 17:31