‘The Walking Dead’ Creator Announces ‘Super Dinosaur’ Animated Series

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman announced plans for an animated series based on his Super Dinosaur comics at the Skybound Entertainment panel at San Diego Comic-Con Friday.

Super Dinosaur launched in June 2011 and is published by Image Comics. The series centers on an armor-wearing Tyrannosaurus Rex who teams up with Derek Dynamo to stop the villainous Max Maximus from getting to Inner-Earth and more dinosaurs. The 23-issue series was also published as a four-volume trade paperback series between 2011 and 2015.

News of an animated series based on Super Dinosaurs first broke last fall, when Canada’s Spin Master Entertainment announced plans to produce a series, with Vancouver-based Atomic Cartoons handling the animation.

In an interview with USA Today when Super Dinosaur launched, Kirkman said the idea for the Super Dinosaur character really came from artist Jason Howard’s son Jake, who drew a T-rex with a cape. Howard approached Kirkman, and they developed the idea. Eventually, they created a T-rex who used his tiny arms to control big robotic ones.

“It will have some of the layered elements like The Walking Dead… but instead of people getting their heads cut off, it’ll be dinosaurs shooting other dinosaurs with lasers,” Kirkman said in 2011.

Back in August 2017, Kirkman and Skybound signed a first-look deal with Amazon Prime. Kirkman and Skybound co-founder David Alpert will oversee projects with Skybound Entertainment‘s co-presidents of film and television Bryan and Sean Furst.

“Robert is a gifted storyteller who shares our passion for elevated genre storytelling that pushes boundaries,” Sharon Tal Yguado, head of event series for Amazon Studios, said in a statement at the time. “Robert and the team at Skybound are some of the most innovative and fearless creatives in the business. Together, we plan to explore immersive worlds and bold ideas for Prime Video.”

Aside from The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead, Kirkman’s Outcast became a hit series for Cinemax. Producers Seth Rogen and Ian Golberg were also developing a movie based on Invincible for Universal Pictures.

Invincible is also being developed as an animated series. During a panel earlier in the day, Kirkman said it will be as violent as the comics.

“It is going to be as violent as the comic book series and as far as staying close to the original story, I’m writing the pilot and Im working very closely with Simon Cappioca to craft the series so it’s going to be awesome,” Kirkman explained.

The Walking Dead season nine debuts on Oct. 7, 2019. Fear The Walking Dead‘s fourth season resumes on Sunday, Aug. 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.