The Walking Dead is a very grounded story that takes place in the modern day, but it originally had a sci-fi setting no fan could have ever expected. Since the danger humanity faces between the zombies and other hostile humans is pretty realistic in the original comic, it's shocking to learn that The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard was originally going to take a completely different direction.
When it comes to telling a story, it's very rare that the first iteration of the story is what actually makes it to print. As reported by CBR, instead of being a zombie apocalypse set in the modern day, The Walking Dead nearly had two different settings. One of the first ideas was that instead of taking place in contemporary times, The Walking Dead would take place on Earth in the far future with the extra twist of a utopian society.
The story would then follow the future of this society as it fell to the zombie apocalypse over the span of decades.
The Walking Dead's Original Sci-Fi Setting Would Have Changed the Entire Story
But It's Really The Walking Dead's Characters That Make It a Classic
While there's no denying that The Walking Dead is a classic and a seminal hit, it's interesting that it was almost completely different. The Walking Dead isn't bad by any means, but there isn't anything about it that is a major departure from most zombie media. The story is about people trying to survive an apocalypse. But what sets this zombie story apart is the quality of the writing. But Kirkman's original idea is something that really hasn't been done before. The idea of witnessing a society fall to an undead plague over the course of decades, with each decade following a different set of characters, would've been a great new direction for the genre.
Kirkman himself has stated that he always viewed The Walking Dead as a character study above all else. While the story certainly includes zombies, they were only added to make the story more commercial. They added that general appeal which would make it a lot easier to sell to the masses, which very clearly worked. But Kirkman always intended for the main focus of the story to be on the characters, which is one of the biggest story choices that sets it apart from most other zombie media of the time, which mostly just focused on having people die in horrific and gory ways.
It's no surprise that Kirkman almost created a spin-off that focused entirely on the characters - without the zombies.
Characters like the Governor and especially Negan have stayed in the cultural memory for quite a while. Negan proved so popular that he even showed up as a guest character in Tekken, which is honestly kind of absurd. Negan even got his own spin-off TV show with another character. It's hard to overstate just how much the characters of The Walking Dead have resonated with fans. Rick Grimes was considered one of the best heroes on TV when The Walking Dead was at its height. It's no surprise that Kirkman almost created a spin-off that focused entirely on the characters - without the zombies.
Robert Kirkman Had More The Walking Dead Ideas Than He Knew What to Do With
Jim Was Almost the Main Character of His Own Spin-Off
One of the many ideas that Kirkman had for the series was a spin-off known as the "Jim trilogy of books." These stories would've focused on the character of Jim, a minor mechanic character who escaped Atlanta with the help of his family. The trilogy of Jim would've then focused solely on Jim and his family as they continued to live in the apocalypse and the extended cast of characters that they meet. This kind of storytelling would apparently be so far removed from the normal The Walking Dead that most readers might not even realize it's the same character named Jim.
Kirkman is also known for his original series Invincible with artist Ryan Ottley, available now in collected editions from Image Comics.
One of the things that Kirkman seemed to be amused by was the idea that fans might realize that Jim is the same character from The Walking Dead. They'd then eagerly await for the zombies to arrive and disrupt Jim's life - but that simply wouldn't happen. The zombies would never appear. The trilogy would just focus on Jim living his life and how he interacts with his family. It likely would have been a compelling character-driven drama, as that's what Kirkman seems to do best.
The Walking Dead Was a Treasure Trove of Ideas for Kirkman
But the Moder-Day Classic Has Already Come to a Close
The Walking Dead is a fantastic series, but it was almost so much different. It's clear that Kirkman had so many ideas for the saga, but for the sake of having a comprehensible story and being able to sell it, he simply wasn't able to explore all the ideas that he originally had. Setting The Walking Dead in the modern day certainly made it more palatable for the general audience, but it wasn't anywhere near as interesting as Kirkman's original idea of a futuristic society being destroyed by zombies.
