Two of the most popular shows on TV–The Walking Dead and Invincible–are based on beloved comic book series co-created by Robert Kirkman. These two shows couldn’t be more different, though. One’s a vibrant, bloody animated superhero adventure, the other a dire and gritty zombie apocalypse show. According to Kirman himself at Comic-Con, though, there’s one other major difference between them–one is far easier to make.
Speaking during his spotlight panel at the virtual convention, the co-creator admitted that figuring out what’s going to happen on Invincible is a much easier road to travel than plotting out The Walking Dead for one specific reason. “I think that there’s a more solid roadmap for Invincible, because that series is done, than we had for [The] Walking Dead,” he said.
While the animated Invincible series debuted on Amazon Prime Video earlier this year, Kirkman and the rest of the comic’s team wrapped up that series back in 2018. On the other hand, The Walking Dead first premiered on AMC back in 2010. At that point, the comics were in the “Life Among Them” story arc, which is when Rick Grimes and company first discover the Alexandria Safe Zone. The comic then continued until late 2019.
Having the entirety of the Invincible comics to work with allows Kirkman and the team behind the Amazon adaptation of the series to figure out their plans well ahead of time.
“You can do things where you go, ‘Okay, you know this thing in Invincible [issue] 132 will probably fall in like Season 6 or 7 so we need to make sure that we do this and this to make sure that that happens,” he explained. “Now that the show looks like it’s being very successful, we actually are making those plans and putting those things in place to try and do the entirety of the comic in a cool way.”
Knowing where the story is going also leaves the door open for improvements, Kirkman teased. “There’s a lot of stuff along the way that I really want to plus-up and change the same way that the big fight with the Guardians [in the first episode] was,” he said. I think [it was] much improved than what happens in the comics.”
The Walking Dead is preparing to launch its final season on August 22. Kirkman also gave an update about the upcoming Walking Dead movies, though a release date remains a mystery. Invincible has been renewed for another season on Amazon Prime Video, but a Season 2 premiere date has not been announced.
