Daybreak Showrunner on Creating a Fun Version of the Apocalypse

Nearly every depiction of the apocalypse in TV and film is dark, dreary, and largely void of any hope. It makes sense, given that the apocalypse is the onset of humanity’s end. The destruction of the world is a terrible and frightening thought. But this is where Daybreak aims to set itself apart. The new Netflix original series paints a slightly different picture of the apocalypse, or at least its hero’s outlook on the world around him. To Josh Wheeler (Colin Ford), the end of the world is the best thing that ever happened to him.

Why make the apocalypse fun? Following the show’s debut on Netflix, ComicBook.com spoke with creator Aron Eli Coleite about the motivation behind his unique take on the world after the world.

“The biggest inspiration was actually, so I met with Brad Peyton who had written a feature version of the script,” Coleite tells us. “And that version of the script was closer in tone to the Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead, just in terms of a real focus on the zombie apocalypse. And the thing that I saw that was really unique was here is a character at the center, that’s Josh, who looked at the apocalypse as the best thing that ever happened to him and was really positive about everything that was going on and what I keyed into with that character, which is something that I hadn’t felt like I had not really seen before. That somebody who looked at the end of the world and said, ‘This is amazing. I can finally have all the stuff that I want.I can do whatever I want. I can reinvent myself.’

“Because when I was in high school, I certainly felt similarly, it being the best time in your life and kind of the worst time of your life and all you want to do is have the capability of redefining yourself. And so this was able to play off of that fantasy, the fantasy of truly if the world ended and you can do anything, what would you do? And when we start talking about it from that perspective and kind of building it out more in a mad max type of world-building at with zombies and Ghoulies, the show really started to present itself.”

Have you watched Daybreak on Netflix? What do you think of the new series? Let us know in the comments!