Walking Dead boss on finale: "There’s no way to be exactly the comic"
Angela Kang says that changes to the source material have altered "the entire trajectory" of the TV series.
The Walking Dead is about to draw to a close, a little over three years after the comic series which inspired it published its final issue.
But Angela Kang, showrunner on the television series, says the finale episode will hold plenty of surprises even for those familiar with how the comic ended, since the paths of the show and its source material "have diverged" over the years.
She's not wrong – certain characters, including Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes, have long departed the TV series but were present in the comic's final arc, while certain other TV characters have long outlived their comic book counterparts.
"I can answer this without spoiling – we've always taken the attitude that we must stay true to certain elements of the comic, there are certain key things that we know are going to be important to Robert Kirkman as the writer of the comics, and we want to stay true to those particular pieces," Kang told RadioTimes.com.
"And we always want to stay true to the general vibe of the comic, and the emotional story that it's telling about, like, family... but beyond that, even Robert has been very free with us and open about the fact that he doesn't mind if it goes on alternate paths."
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Kang suggested that "it's almost like the show exists in another part of the multiverse".
"There's no way to be exactly the comic at this point," she said of the television show's conclusion. "Because too many paths have diverged.
"When Andy Lincoln has to go home to be with his family, that changes the entire trajectory of the story right there. Then Daryl (Norman Reedus) becomes a breakout character that never existed in the comics and he's the lead now – that changes the trajectory.
"So it's always this fun balancing act of, how do we stay true to the parts that we want to stay true to, and then how do we also serve just the paths that the story is taking?"
Kang previously revealed to RadioTimes.com that there was "a lot of debate and discussion" around how the show should end, with the planned final scene changing.
The Walking Dead's finale episode, titled Rest in Peace, won't quite be the end though, with a series of spin-offs set to follow – including a show starring Norman Reedus as Daryl, The Walking Dead: Dead City featuring Lauren Cohan as Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, and a limited series with Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira as Michonne.
Though this might suggest an open ending for the flagship show, Kang insisted that it felt important to "close the chapter on The Walking Dead" and ensure that they were rounding off what felt like "a complete story".
"If something is ending, you have to end the story somewhere, so you're kind of left with the sense of what might happen for these people going forward and you can imagine how the story plays out," she explained.
"That was the approach we took – and then we knew that there were certain characters we had to leave the door open for in a certain way. The spin-offs are going to pick up in places that are very specific to those spin-offs, and there'll be choices that are made for those shows specifically."
The Walking Dead is streaming on Disney Plus, with the series finale available in the UK from Monday 21st November – sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year.
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