Walking Dead Too Soft? Creator Admits It’s ‘Tame’ Compared to R-Rated Zombie Madness

Many The Walking Dead fans loved tuning into the AMC series when it aired back in 2010 due to its horrific and gory interpretation of zombies, but it seems as though its creator believes that the post-apocalyptic show is nowhere near as intense as the most R-rated zombie series ever created. Throughout its eleven seasons, The Walking Dead touched upon almost every topic possible. Whether it was exposing the true side of the human condition through love, loss, loneliness and selfishness, or via life lessons like how to become more resilient in the face of horrendous struggles and conflict, the series showcased a spectrum of challenging subjects that many of its viewers could relate to.

The show’s array of talented cast members, which included Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, and more, not only made the series what it was by completely embodying themselves into their characters and exposing their hidden depths, but the stars also received countless awards for their amazing roles throughout its twelve years. Although The Walking Dead wasn’t the first to popularize the zombie genre, with George A. Romero’s film The Night of the Living Dead taking the crown, it did pave the way for others to follow, like Z Nation, iZombie, and HBO’s The Last of Us.

Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman Says His Show Is ‘Extremely Tame’ in Comparison to ‘Crossed’

As reported by Screen Rant, The Walking Dead‘s creator, Robert Kirkman, has revealed that he doesn’t think his long-running zombie series was anywhere close to being as violent and disturbing as Garth Ennis’ Crossed comic series was. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #105, Kirkman touches upon Negan’s controversial array of wives in the show, as this has been a sore point for some fans, before stating that even though the series has thrown plenty of gritty and despicable topics under the spotlight, it’s nothing in comparison to another zombie comic book series called Crossed. Kirkman says that the amount of gore and horrific things that go on in Ennis’ series, which ran from 2012 to 2014, is something that could never compare to anything that went on in The Walking Dead.

“I certainly have a line I won’t cross. No pun intended, but you can look to Garth Ennis’s Crossed series to see a far more brutal and unforgiving exploration of the apocalypse. Walking Dead is EXTREMELY tame by comparison, but that was by design. The harsh elements that did make it in, I always tried to make sure they were a reflection of real life.”

Kirkman states that many of the gory or horrific events that did show up in The Walking Dead were things that could happen in real life and that seems like a fair point. Although some scenes and topics from The Walking Dead were hard to watch, like Rick cutting open a zombie’s stomach to see if Lori had been eaten, Hershel getting beheaded and Noah getting pulled apart in a revolving door, these are tragic situations that are part and parcel of surviving in a cruel and terrifying apocalyptic world. It certainly seems as though Crossed doesn’t hold back with its depiction of violence and gore but in a more savage way, as it tells the story of survivors during a virus outbreak that causes them to act out on their most evilest of thoughts.

If The Walking Dead series has left a zombie-sized hole since its departure and fans are looking for something more ‘extreme’, Garth Ennis’ Crossed comic is getting an adaptation with production due to having started last fall. Amazon’s adaptation of Ennis’ The Boys has become one of the most acclaimed comic book shows of the decade, so it will be interesting to see how the comic’s brutality is played out for TV viewers.