The live-action Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) is “leaps and bounds way better” than her short-lived counterpart in The Walking Dead comic books, says her creator Robert Kirkman. Both started out as battered housewives abused by bully husband Ed (played by Adam Minarovich in the show’s first season), but only McBride’s Carol evolved into an accomplished and resourceful zombie apocalypse survivor after the death of only daughter Sophia (Madison Lintz). Now ten seasons into The Walking Dead, taking place a decade post-outbreak, Carol is one of just two survivors from the first season still with the show — the other being longtime best friend Daryl (Norman Reedus) — and is among the characters made better by the television series:
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Asked during a live streamed Q&A hosted by Hey Fandom! if there are any storylines the Walking Dead show did better than the since-ended comic book, Kirkman said it happens “all the time.”
“I think that the biggest one is probably Melissa McBride‘s entire arc,” Kirkman said. “I think everything that we’ve done with the Carol character in the show is leaps and bounds way better than anything that we did with Carol in the comic book series. But there’s a lot, I think.”
Kirkman killed the character in The Walking Dead issue #41, where a delusional and depressed Carol commits suicide offering her neck to a chained zombie. She then reanimates as a walker and is shot and killed by Andrea.
Another character that has long outlived their comic book counterpart is Morgan Jones (Lennie James), who became the first character to crossover from The Walking Dead to spinoff Fear the Walking Dead.
“Morgan’s character, the stuff we did with Lennie James in the show, I think is far superior to what we did [in the comics],” Kirkman said, adding the show did a better job making the villainous Governor (David Morrissey) “more humane.”
“He’s a more well-rounded character in the show,” he said. “We got into his backstory and kind of what makes him tick a little bit more in the television show.”
A former casting director, McBride nearly quit acting before landing her role on The Walking Dead under then-showrunner Frank Darabont.
In the forthcoming Season 10 finale currently delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic, showrunner Angela Kang says Carol will continue her “quest for redemption” after orchestrating the death of Alpha (Samantha Morton) and avenging murdered son Henry (Matt Lintz).
The Walking Dead next airs its Season 10 finale as a special episode on AMC later this year. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.
