The Walking Dead Star Hopes to Survive Until the End

The Walking Dead newcomer Dan Fogler, who joined as Luke in Season 9, hopes to stay on the series until the end after outliving his comic book counterpart.

“I want to stay on. See, here’s the thing, I feel like I won. In the comic books, I was supposed to be one of the heads on the pike,” Fogler told co-star Ross Marquand on Fogler’s 4D Xperience podcast.

“In this parallel universe that we have on the TV show, I’m still alive. And I love that I was able to make it past that hurdle. So right now everything is just like, ‘Alright, it’s all gravy, what’s up next?’ And I hope I get to stay on all the way to the end. And I love f—ing doing all the western sh-t, like riding horses. I love bashing zombie heads in. It’s really therapeutic.”

A member of the tight-knit group comprised of Magna (Nadia Hilker), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), and sisters Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Kelly (Angel Theory), Luke was spared his comic book fate as a victim whose decapitated head was displayed on a pike marking territory claimed by the enemy Whisperers.

In the show, leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) and her skin-clad Whisperers claimed the lives of ten victims, including Hilltop leader Tara (Alanna Masterson), Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Henry (Matt Lintz), son of Kingdom leaders Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Carol (Melissa McBride).

It was a significant departure from creator Robert Kirkman’s comic books, where King Ezekiel and a pregnant Rosita were among the victims. Because the show mostly hits those same beats, Marquand, who plays Aaron, stopped reading Kirkman’s source material at issue #100.

“I read up until Glenn died, and then it was like, ‘F—, I’m learning too much about the show,’” Marquand said.

“Cause once you know kind of what’s coming, as an actor I feel like it kind of takes away some of the surprise for you, and it’s harder to get there, I feel like. So I stopped reading after that. But I see Chandler [Riggs] every now and again, and he still reads, and he’s like, ‘Dude, you gotta read this latest issue, it’s really good.’”

Kirkman ended the book Wednesday with issue #193. The Walking Dead returns to AMC with its tenth season in October.