As easily the biggest zombie franchise of all time,The Walking Deadowes thanks to howGeorge A. Romeroredefined zombies inNight of the Living Dead- butStephen King’s son Joseph Hillström King (who writes under ‘Joe Hill’) thinks the relationship goes way further than that. In fact, the writer ofThe Black PhoneandLocke & KeybelievesWalking Dead’s creators should be"forever grateful"that Romero was unable to protect his intellectual property.
In the introduction to 2019’sFull Throttle, Joe Hill writes about how he fell in love with horror fiction, relating several experiences alongsidehis father Stephen Kingand other horror icons. That includes George A. Romero, who collaborated with King on 1982’sCreepshow, in which Hill plays a child who condemns his father to Hell. Discussing his experience on the film, Hill writes:
Romero was the shaggy, rebel auteur who kind of invented the zombie apocalypse with his filmNight of the Living Dead, who kind of forgot to copyright it, and who, as a result, kind of didn’t get rich off it. The makers ofThe Walking Deadwill be forever grateful to Romero for being so good at directing and so bad at protecting his intellectual property.
Hill’s comments read as a sincere critique ofThe Walking Dead, calling out how creators Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore drew from Romero’s work in creating the acclaimed comic series, later adapted into multiple TV series, novels and games. But is that callout actually justified?
Are the Two Actually That Similar?
The idea of ‘zombies’ as the reanimated dead has been around since the 17th century, emerging from Haitian folklore. However, Hill is right tocredit Romero with effectively reinventing itfor the modern day.Night of the Living Deadestablished the aesthetic and many of the themes of subsequent zombie fiction, despite never actually referring to its cannibalistic undead with the term (instead labeling them ‘ghouls.') Of course, no work is created in a vacuum, and even Romero was inspired by other sources, including Richard Matheson’sI Am Legend.
Walking Deaddefinitely follows Romero’s blueprint in its depiction of an apocalyptic outbreak of shambling, flesh-hungry corpses run amok.The creators have admitted time and again to being inspired by Romero and his ideas. But is this a case of normal pop-culture inspiration, or isWalking Deadreally taking advantage of Romero’s lack of ownership over his intellectual property? As hardcore fans know, it definitelystartedas the latter.
In Fact, It Was Originally an Official Spin-Off
WhileThe Walking Deadhas a lot of unique characters and events to its name,it literally began life as aNight of the Living Deadspin-off. As detailed byComic Book Resources,The Walking Deadwas originally pitched as a comic spin-off to Romero’s film, even including the same news broadcast about the dead rising from their graves.
PerCBR, Robert Kirkman was given the green light touse theNight of the Living Deadname, which fell into the public domain due to an error including copyright notices on the film prints. However, publisher Jim Valentino told Kirkman that launchingThe Walking Deadas an original concept was preferable since it would give him greater ownership over the franchise, leading to a (relatively slight) revamp.
Romero called outThe Walking Deadby name multiple times before his 2017 death.
In the original comic pitch, Rick Grimes is sat at home with his family when news of the zombies breaks, meaning that the franchise’s iconic opening with Rick in a hospital bed came later. Likewise,The Walking Deaddoesn’t share any characters withNight of the Living Dead, even as its zombies display similar aesthetic traits. One of the big similarities is that both are in black and white - doubtless something that originated in theNight of the Living Deadpitch, but also a way forWalking Deadto get away with graphic violence and gore.
The question isn’t whetherWalking Deadis built on Romero’s work - it absolutely is, and its creators have made no secret of that.But did Kirkman, Moore and longterm artist Charlie Adlard create their own story, or are they dining out on Romero’s work?
Kirkman has written extensively about his inspirations and decisions withWalking Dead, and the ways in which Romero’s work influenced his comic series and the later TV series of the same name. For example, inThe Walking Dead Deluxe #55,Kirkman explains that he never wanted his zombies to evolve or learn because it would be too similar to how Romero developed the undeadin his subsequent movies, writing:
I’ve never tried to hide how much inspiration Romero’s movies were to me for this series. I will always maintain there would be noWalking Deadwithout the godfather of the modern zombie. That said, I think this series is at least a slight innovation to the genre. … I felt evolving or changing our zombies in any way would have veered too close to his hallowed work.
Kirkman has even claimed to havehidden several ‘cameo’ appearances by Romeroin the comic as a zombie, though it’s unclear whether this is true or a joke at fans’ expense. One of the things that mostWalking Deadfans immediately point out about the series is that it was never about the zombies. The undead act as a way to force the comic’s characters into close-quarters and impossible situations, and those unique characters are the focus. It’s telling thatWalking Deadis far, far more famous for its human villains than any moments directly involving zombies.
At the same time, it’s hard to argue thatWalking Deaddoesn’t use what’s essentiallyNight of the Living Deadas the backdrop for its story. Whether this infringes on a copyright Romero could have claimed is a matter for a never-to-exist court case, butfrom first appearances, it seems thatWalking Deadis engaging in the usual kind of artistic inspiration that’s accepted as reasonable across pop culture- though of course, the ‘zombie apocalypse’ as a genre might not have grown so popular without so many people being able to utilize Romero’s ideas without worry of legal consequences.
But just because it’s seemingly not a direct rip-off doesn’t mean George A. RomerolikedhowWalking Deadhandled zombies.
Did George A. Romero Have a Grudge Against Walking Dead?
Romero Was Asked to Direct the Show, But Declined
Romero called outThe Walking Deadby name multiple timesbefore his 2017 death, though mostly regarding how its success had impacted his own future work. Speaking toIndieWire, Romero lamented that due toWalking Dead’s success, “you couldn’t [make] a zombie film that had any sort of substance. It had to be a zombie film with just zombies wreaking havoc. That’s not what I’m about.“Similarly, Romero states:
Now, because of “World War Z” and “The Walking Dead,” I can’t pitch a modest little zombie film, which is meant to be sociopolitical. I used to be able to pitch them on the basis of the zombie action, and I could hide the message inside that. Now, you can’t. The moment you mention the word “zombie,” it’s got to be, “Hey, Brad Pitt paid $400 million to do that.”
Romero also didn’t want anything to do withWalking Deadas a creator - speaking toEntertainment Weekly, Walking Dead’s executive product Greg Nicotero revealed thatRomero declined the offer to directan episode. Nicotero says:
You know, we loved the idea of George coming onboard. Frank Darabont and I talked about it after the end of season 1. And I had a conversation with George and I said, ‘Hey, man, would you ever want to come and direct?’ This was after we’d only aired six episodes. So, the show hadn’t really even caught on. And George said, ‘No, listen, you guys have your world, and I have my world’ and it’s cool. I think he really was still intending on developing some other zombie stuff.
So whileWalking Dead’s creators may be huge fans of George A. Romero’s work, it seems fair to say the reverse wasn’t true. Ultimately, Joe Hill and Robert Kirkman are essentially in agreement -The Walking Deadwas knowingly and explicitly built on the shoulders of Romero’sNight of the Living Dead, and wouldn’t exist without it. However, whileStephen King’s son seemingly has a more negative take on whatWalking Deadowes to Romero, Robert Kirkman remains steadfast that wherever the franchise started, it also exemplified enough innovation to be far more than a rip-off ofGeorge A. Romero’swork.
Sources: Brian Cronin,Comic Book Resources; Clark Collis,Entertainment Weekly; Eric Kohn,IndieWire
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadis a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television seriesThe Walking Deadin 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as “walkers.” The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
George Romero
Stephen King
Discover the latest news and filmography for Stephen King, known for The Dark Tower series, The Stand, IT, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, the Bill Hodges trilogy, and more.
