Greg Nicotero opens up about the major Walking Dead moments hed have done differently – SYFY WIRE

Anytime something big happens in The Walking Dead, it has major ripple effects for what comes later, sometimesseasons down the road. For every OMG moment when AMCs TV series veers from its comic book source material, it sets up future changes changes that not even the shows creative team always agree on.

Like most passionate Walking Dead fans, executive producer Greg Nicotero has his own ideas about where those changes have (and havent) paid off. Speaking recently with Colliders The Witching Hour podcast, Nicotero admitted hes had to direct some of those moments himself, even when hes vehemently disagreed with what happens onscreen, as he did in a huge Season 2 death.

There have been things that I vehemently disagreed with. Like in the original comic book, when Shane dies in Season 2, Carls the one who shoots Shane, Nicotero said. And when we did the TV show, I remember it wasnt Carl that shot Shane. I remember having a conversation with [TWD creator] Robert Kirkman, and saying, Dude, I remember!I remember that moment; that it was Carl, this little kid who had the gun, who ended up shooting Shane.

When fans of the comics tune in to see how the show will handle Kirkmans comic book story beats, Nicotero knows the creative team will get instant feedback the moment the show airs. Its hard, because I read a lot of great stuff about it, and Ive read a lot of terrible stuff about it, he joked, and I would say there are times when I agree with some of the things that are said. And we have those conversations. There were things that came up we had a conversation, and I said, Mark my words, someones gonna publish an article about that and then the episode airs, and then theres an article, and its right there!

Nicotero directed Wrath, the Season 8 finale that saw Negan nearly die when Rick Grimes cut his throat with a shard of glass. But even from the directors chair, Nicotero was wanting Maggie, and not Rick, to do the honors and it sounds like hed have been fine with Negan dying right then and there.

I had directed that episode, and I had said to Scott Gimple, the showrunner: 'I think Maggie should shoot him.' I think Maggie should either kill Negan, or shoot Negan, or do something, because shes right there! Its really hard; it was really a hard moment to shoot, knowing that Maggie collapses to her knees because Rick spares Negans life obviously, Negans character had more of a journey, and there was a lot more going on.

Despite all the creative back-and-forth thats gone into 10 seasons of AMCs flagship zombie series, at the end of the day Nicotero says its been rewarding to bounce ideas off the rest of the team even when his dont always win out.

The shows really in a great place, Nicotero said. I think Angelas [current showrunner Angela Kang] done an unbelievable job. I think with Samantha [Morton] and Ryan [Hurst], and all the actors, Jeffrey [Dean Morgan] and Melissa [McBride] and Norman [Reedus] and L.C. [Lauren Cohan], and everybody the last two seasons have been really, really fun the storytelling has just become adrenalized.

We still dont know how things will play out as Season 10 awaits its final episode. The coronavirus pandemic halted post-production work just as the season was reaching its climax, so the Nicotero-directed Season 10 finale is still waiting in the wings. AMC plans to air the finale as a beefed-upspecial episode sometime later this year, so well be watching to spot any big moments that mightve kept Nicotero and the rest of the creative team playing some good-natured offense behind the scenes to defend their fateful story choices.

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Greg Nicotero opens up about the major Walking Dead moments hed have done differently - SYFY WIRE

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero