‘The Walking Dead’: Actors Provide Theories On How Show Ends
Last year, The Walking Dead stars were on hand for a panel with fans and shared their theories as to how the show could potentially end. Of course, if any of them actually knew the true ending they would be prevented from doing so, as their contracts are signed in blood.
In the comics, which surprisingly ended a couple of months ago, comic book creator Robert Kirkman never revealed the origins of the virus that caused the apocalypse and then reanimation of death.
In attendance were several of the actors, including Ross Marquand, Michael Cudlitz, and Melissa McBride. Each had their own “theory” as to how the show truly started and would end.
“I think it’s aliens,” Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron on The Walking Dead. “Either aliens were the cause of the zombie apocalypse, or aliens are going to come down and wipe us all out. Either way, it’s gonna be awesome.”
Michael Cudlitz, who played everyone’s favorite red-haired catch-phrase machine, chimed in with his theory that the apocalypse was started by the government or scientific meddling.
“I think we did it to ourselves,” he said. “I think they were developing something and it went really wrong.”
Melissa McBride, who plays Carol, went meta when sharing her theory about The Walking Dead‘s possible ending.
“I think that it’s a television show,” McBride said. “Somebody says, ‘Cut! That’s a wrap!’ And then you see all these walkers take their faces off, just hug each other and walk away, and it’s just been a television show the whole time.”
“So basically Melissa’s saying it will end in cancellation,” Cudlitz said jokingly.
The Walking Dead is airing six new episodes in February as a continuation of Season 10. Then, the show will air 24 episodes for its final season that will air later in 2021, completing it’s 11 Season run.
The Waking Dead returns on February 28 at 9 p.m. on AMC.
What do you think caused the zombie apocalypse? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This is post P-90x. I’m saying I watched the videos. I’m not saying I participated. Born in my mom’s basement, I’ve stayed there to embody the stereotype. One day I will rise up… to the main floor of the house.
The walker contagion could have been unearthed by a massive volcanic eruption the likes of Krakatoa on a remote uninhabited island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The yet undiscovered virus or bacterial spores would have shot up into the upper ionosphere and spread globally by the trade winds and landed in our farming soil and every exposed body of water, thus contaminating the very things we consume. That’s how the contagion is already present and lying dormant in everyone.
That may be a reasonable stretch in the realm of plausibility as to the how. But it does not answer the why? Why is the contagion suddenly activated once a person dies? Why does death trigger it? Does the contagion instinctively know when a person is clinically dead and activates and rapidly replicates itself as part of its life cycle? Since injury to the brain seems to be the only way to keep the dead from rising, perhaps the contagion senses when the body no longer has any brain activity, then it takes over the host, so that it can seek nourishment and keep the host’s brain functioning, which in turn, keeps the contagion alive as well.
In the TWD universe that Kirkman created, the contagion affects humans only. Animals do not turn. They are just caught and devoured. But I have a few ‘wonder’ questions based on this world.
According to what I have been able to research, chimpanzees and bonobos share 99% of the same DNA as humans. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, while chimps and bonobos have 24. With such a close genetic similarity, I ‘wonder’ if chimps and bonobos would be affected by the walker contagion. We have yet to see any of the survivor groups pass by or enter a zoo. And we have seen a lot freaky shit on the show already, and the effects guys pull no punches. Wouldn’t it be a shock to see a group of scavenging survivors confronted by the first ever non-human walkers?
When does life begin? I have heard many answers from the moment of conception when the sperm enters the egg, to the very first heart beat and when the mother gives birth. Some mothers give birth to stillborn babies. Given the TWD world, I ‘wonder’ if the stillborn becomes a baby walker, or if it enters the world as a baby walker already? Does that go a bit too far? I don’t know. Would it be something we haven’t seen on the show yet? For sure. Would something like that be ultra-freaky? You bet.
With all the eating the walkers do, I ‘wonder’ if they take dumps? I mean, everyone poops, right?
Could there be walkers out there that are ‘slow’ or don’t really pose a threat to the survivors because the host bodies were mentally challenged with Downs Syndrome or something? Perhaps they were suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease; therefore, their brains aren’t capable to make them act like a typical never-get-tired out-for-blood walkers? In Zombieland 2, they had a category of zombies called homers that were easily distracted by the littlest of things such as butterflies. Perhaps, in the TWD universe, humans that were suffering from some sort of brain illness that turned into walkers, didn’t act like a normal walker because of it?
There are blind and deaf people in the world. Some, like Helen Keller, were both. Walkers seem to have 20/20 vision as well as have excellent hearing. But what if the host body was blind and deaf? Would they still walk around, but bump into walls and things because they have no ability to detect movement or investigate a sound? Would those types of walkers be somewhat docile like Michonne’s armless and jawless repellent pet walkers? I wonder.
What about geriatric walkers? Surely when the world turned to shit, there were many elderly people on the brink of death. Many of these geriatric citizens probably wore full sets of dentures. If they turned with their dentures in their mouths, they could have been as dangerous as a younger walker. But over time, the polydent would have worn out and their sets of dentures would have fallen out of their mouths. Without the ability to take a bite out of a poor fallen victim, can these old walkers gum their victims into turning into one of them? Or would they be a non-threat? I wonder.
I wonder if their could be immunes in the TWD universe? Could a person’s own DNA makeup make them naturally resistant to the walker contagion? They can be bit, but they do not turn.
I wonder. Could their be a cure? Perhaps in one of these new communities we haven’t been introduced yet, they have a team of genetic scientists working on a cure and maybe they are getting close.
I think it is a big dream! Rick is going to wake up and everything will be fine! All the staff and patients are part of the dream!