Greg Nicotero On Carl’s Final ‘Walking Dead’ Episode And Fan Reactions

Fans are up in arms over The Walking Dead sending Chandler Riggs away from the show but executive producer Greg Nicotero expects a more understanding reaction when Carl’s death airs in the Mid-Season Eight premiere.

“It’s a beautiful episode and the people that clearly are upset about losing Carl and questioning where the show goes without Carl — I really do believe that a lot of people will put those feelings aside when they watch this episode because they’re really going to get an opportunity to make some peace with it,” Nicotero told EW. “I mean, that’s what I think. I don’t know, I could be completely wrong.”

Most fans questioning the direction of the show, as Nicotero referenced, had been expecting to see certain comic book storylines adapted to the AMC series. Several of those narratives, especially the Whisperer War and the events leading up to it, heavily relied on stories driven by Carl and his relationship with Rick Grimes.

“We’re committed to keep telling the story from the comic book,” The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple told EW. To do so, however, the show will make certain changes to adapt moments and overarching stories such as assigning different roles to different characters. “Yes, it’s going to be different,” Gimple said. “And yes, Negan’s relationship to Carl was a big part of the story moving forward, especially in the world changes we see early on. But, as usual, we do plan on telling those comic stories.”

“It just will have to be with different people and it’s a different way to tell those same stories,” Gimple said. “But we hope to still fulfill what those stories do.”

It won’t be the first time the TV series assigned live-action characters stories which played out with different characters in Robert Kirkman’s source material. The biggest change, for example, is Michonne largely stepping in to the path laid out by the comic book Andrea, who survived well beyond the Negan story and formed an intimate relationship with Rick.

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth season on February 25, 2018. Fear the Walking Dead will debut its fourth season after The Walking Dead concludes its eighth, at 10 pm ET on April 15. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.