With the show now halfway through its eighth season, and with the comic book series recently passing a milestone 175 issues, there’s a general consensus that The Walking Dead – in both mediums – is nearing its end. But if you ask its creator, Robert Kirkman, the zombie franchise has a very long life ahead of it.
Kirkman took part in a Q&A at the Walker Stalker Cruise recently (the same one where he teased that Carl may live) and was asked if he had an endgame in mind for either the TV show or the comics. The writer confirmed that he does have plans for a conclusion, but that doesn’t mean said culmination is on its way anytime soon. In fact, he assured fans that The Walking Dead won’t come to a close until “very far off.”
“I definitely do have an endgame, but every time I mention that websites run with that and make it sound like its very soon and they get clickbait articles out of it, so I have to say that even though I do know what the end is and I am working toward it, it is very far off and that’s not something that’s going to be happening anytime soon so there’s no cause for worry. Plan on going for a good long time but I do know exactly what I’m working toward, which is important to me.”
While Kirkman believes there’s a lot left of TWD for fans to enjoy, there is evidence to suggest the TV show’s lifespan might expire around season 10. After all, both showrunner Scott Gimple and Kirkman himself have talked about ten seasons as the goal to reach, but haven’t said much beyond that. Outgoing star Chandler Riggs also described season 8 as one of “the last few seasons” recently.
That said, one producer did say they have hopes for the series to run for twenty years, so clearly we’ll just have to wait and see how things progress. Staying in the here and now, though, The Walking Dead returns for its midseason premiere on February 25th. Will you be tuning in? Let us know in the usual place.
