An expansive zombie TV show, standing at 177 episodes long, bucked the adaptation curse by changing its source material for the better. Many of the best comic book TV shows tend to come in the superhero genre, be they Marvel and DC productions or less mainstream franchises, such as Prime Video’s Invincible. The latter is one of the best superhero shows not made by Marvel or DC and proves that comic book storylines do not have to be linked to the major franchises to be popular.
Interestingly, another comic book adaptation from the same writer of Invincible proved to be one of the most popular ever made. Unlike Invincible, though, the show in question wasn’t a superhero production, instead setting its 177-episode story in a post-apocalyptic landscape filled with zombies. Of course, that show is The Walking Dead, which ran for 11 seasons and is one of the most well-known shows of the 2000s.
With many upcoming Walking Dead shows on the horizon, it is easy to overlook the show that started it all. The somewhat divisive middle stretch of The Walking Dead adds to this, but the show started in a great place and only kept improving until around season 7. In a rare successful case for comic book adaptations, one of the biggest reasons for this success was The Walking Dead‘s willingness to make changes to the source material.
In the first five seasons of The Walking Dead, these changes were evident. Be it the show’s willingness to slow down the pacing of comic stories, sometimes stretching plots over multiple seasons, the writers’ creation of original characters that became fan favorites, or changing the fate of other characters, The Walking Dead deserves major kudos for having the bravery to change the comics on which it was based in some massive ways.
The Walking Dead’s Lasting Success Is Because Of Its Comic Book Changes
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As alluded to, one of the biggest ways The Walking Dead TV show changed its source material was by either inventing original characters or changing the stories of those that already existed. An example of the former is Daryl Dixon. Daryl became one of, if not the most, popular characters in The Walking Dead, even leading to his own spin-off that is set to air its fourth and final season in 2027. A big part of Daryl Dixon’s journey in the TV universe is Carol Peletier.
In the comics, Carol dies when walking into a zombie horde. If the show had adapted this one-for-one, Carol would not have made it past season 3, as opposed to surviving all 11 seasons and subsequently all four seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Another character duo that The Walking Dead altered from the comics was Negan and Maggie, who starred in another spin-off, Dead City. If the comic book endings of these characters were followed, Dead City would not exist. Finally, the same can be said for The Walking Dead‘s main character, Rick Grimes.
Rick dies in the original comic series, serving as a martyr who allows other survivors to find peace. Although Rick “died” in the mainline Walking Dead show, he was revived for The Ones Who Live, another spin-off that gave him a happy ending. This ending was centered around his relationship with Michonne, despite the comic books pairing Rick with Andrea. Evidently, The Walking Dead‘s recent success with spin-offs and fan-favorite character resolutions would not have been possible had the original show not had the nerve to massively change the original source material.
The Walking Dead’s Comic Changes Highlight A Unique Advantage Over Marvel & DC
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The Walking Dead deserves such kudos for changing its comic book aspects because many other franchises would not be able to do the same. Looking at the likes of Marvel and DC, these properties are so massive around the globe that each respective fanbase is much more mainstream and, as a result, holds more widespread reverence for the original material. As many adaptations have discovered, this results in controversy when major changes are made to the comics; a recent example is 2025’s Superman, which made the titular character’s biological parents genocidal dictators, causing great division.
This is just one of many recent instances that saw big comic book changes in adaptations cause controversy, which The Walking Dead managed to avoid. Much like other less mainstream comic book adaptations like The Boys and Invincible, the source material for The Walking Dead does not possess such widespread, dedicated fanbases. As a result, the show was able to make changes that fans responded extremely well to, giving The Walking Dead a distinct modern advantage over other comic book-based properties.
The Walking Dead
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