The Walking Dead's Canceled Prequel Would Have Set Up Rick's Story Even Better Than the Pilot Episode
The Walking Dead continues to defy death, continuing to dominate the television scene fifteen years after its first episode debuted on AMC. The flagship series started as a small production but gradually grew to become one of the most successful television series of all time, running for eleven seasons and spawning multiple spinoffs like Dead City, Daryl Dixon, The Ones Who Live, and Fear the Walking Dead. As large as the Walking Dead universe has gotten over the last fifteen years, the franchise's expansion could have begun much earlier.
Over a decade ago, original Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont planned an early prequel that would have explored the beginning of the zombie apocalypse before Rick Grimes entered the story. While this prequel never saw the light of day, its planned star has been open about what would have taken place therein--and it perfectly sets up Rick's story.
Sam Witwer Nearly Starred in a Prequel to The Walking Dead
The Star Wars Voice Actor Plays a Walker in the Pilot Episode--But There's More to the Story
Image via AMC
Over a decade ago, Sam Witwer made an appearance at a fan event in 2011 (now available via a YouTube video), where he opened up about his brief experience on The Walking Dead that was nearly much more involved. A friend of fired Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont, Witwer made a cameo in the pilot episode of the post-apocalyptic AMC series, playing a reanimated soldier who attacks Rick after he climbs into an abandoned tank in Atlanta to avoid a mob of walkers. However, Witwer revealed that this episode wasn't meant to be his only appearance in the larger Walking Dead universe. Darabont originally planned to create a prequel following Sam Witwer's soldier as the world fell apart in the zombie apocalypse. Speaking to fans, Witwer offered insight into what this series might have looked like. Speaking of his conversation with Darabont, the actor related:
[Frank Darabont]'s like, 'I think it would be really cool to tell the prequel story about how Atlanta fell. Do Black Hawk Down but with zombies and have a few of the main characters pass through but like a Twilight Zone episode, the lead will be you. And your character will go through, and you're a soldier, and all these horrible things happen, and the chain of command breaks down, and eventually you have to take out your superior officer to save a bunch of people. And then, eventually in the end, you get bit and... you crawl into a tank and you have this grenade and you're gonna blow yourself up... and then you set the grenade next to you and you die.' And then, we reprise the scene from the pilot where Rick crawls in the tank, and there's a zombie there. And, if you look closely, I play that zombie because we were setting up this prequel that we were gonna do.
Witwer went on to reveal that the prequel would have included at least one character whom Darabont planned to introduce in the second season of the series, though he didn't name which. Unfortunately, this prequel never came to pass. In Witwer's words, AMC canceled these plans to "save a buck," which he deemed to be a massive mistake at the cost of losing out on an awesome idea. The prequel's cancellation was also tied to AMC butting heads with Darabont over the direction of The Walking Dead in general. The studio eventually fired the Shawshank Redemption director altogether, leading to an extended legal battle that still colors some people's perception of The Walking Dead. Many of Darabont's friends came out in support of the fired showrunner, including Jeffrey DeMunn, who asked for his character, Dale Horvath, to be killed off in the following season.
Despite his Walking Dead prequel never coming to fruition, Sam Witwer has gone on to enjoy a prosperous career. In 2011, he was the star of Being Human, the SyFy remake of the British series of the same name. Being Human ran for four seasons before its abrupt cancellation, with Witwer among several outspoken cast members who criticized the channel's decision. Witwer is also known for his contributions to the Star Wars franchise. The actor performed the motion capture and the voice for Starkiller in the video game series The Force Unleashed. Later, he teamed up with Lucasfilm executive Dave Filoni to voice Darth Maul in several Star Wars projects, including the character's upcoming animated spinoff.
Some Elements of Witwer's Prequel Made Their Way Into The Walking Dead
Recent The Walking Dead Spinoffs Resurrected Witwer's Cancelled Prequel
Image via AMC
Although Sam Witwer's The Walking Dead prequel never saw the light of day, the franchise resurrected certain elements of the planned spinoff years later. The original series mostly skips over the onset of the zombie apocalypse, following Rick Grimes's perspective as he wakes up from a coma long after the fall of the government. However, audiences finally get to see snapshots of this breakdown in the chain of command on a military level in the 2024 spinoff The Ones Who Live. In the miniseries, Rick and Michonne come across a civilization known as the CRM, which is made up of what remains of the U.S. military. This allows for several flashbacks to the night that things went downhill, when the military was ordered to bomb the nation's biggest cities as a way to limit the walker infection (this was before anyone realized that all humans are already infected). The Ones Who Live finally depicts the fall of the military, including some pilots who disobey their direct orders, allowing a few key cities to survive into the apocalypse, eventually forming the CRM.
Even so, it would have been interesting to see Darabont's idea of what was taking place in the military as the apocalypse set in. Witnessing a more in-depth breakdown of this cataclysm through the eyes of a single soldier would have helped audiences understand the state of The Walking Dead's world by the events of the pilot episode. Furthermore, Darabont's prequel would have been more directly tied to Rick Grimes's story, setting up his fateful encounter in the tank. While The Ones Who Live tells a haunting tale of the world's fall, it is decidedly less personal for Rick, who doesn't enter that story until over a decade after the apocalypse. Unfortunately, in Sam Witwer's words, AMC passed on this idea in hopes of "saving a few bucks." However, given the rampant success of the Walking Dead franchise since then, it is difficult to imagine that AMC doesn't regret expanding its universe earlier.
Fans will likely never see the epic planned prequel to The Walking Dead, but there is still plenty more post-apocalyptic drama ahead. Fans can catch new episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City on Sundays at 9 pm, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon returns for its third season later this year.
