Walking Dead Was Originally Intended as Part One of a Sci-Fi Trilogy

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While The Walking Dead is now one of the definitive works of modern zombie fiction, it was originally intended as the first in a trilogy of stories that would feature the same characters in different sci-fi premises. Weighing in at a whopping 193 issues, with a similarly length TV adaptation and numerous tie-in books and games, The Walking Dead is an epic character study set against the backdrop of the end of the world. However, it wasn't originally conceived to last so long, and writer Robert Kirkman actually planned to explore the series' characters by plunging them into three very different catastrophes.

Created by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, with Charlie Adlard taking over from issue 7, The Walking Dead follows former sheriff Rick Grimes as he attempts to protect his family from a mysterious zombie uprising. However, that's not how Kirkman pitched the project. The creator actually pitched Walking Dead as a story in which aliens were using a zombie outbreak to weaken Earth prior to a full invasion — a lie that Kirkman was able to abandon once the series' popularity and quality began to speak for themselves. However, just because Rick and his group were spared an extraterrestrial invasion in their original world, that doesn't mean they didn't have to face it elsewhere in the Walking Dead multiverse.

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In The Walking Dead Deluxe #5  — an ongoing version of the original series with bonus materials and colors by Dave McCaig — Kirkman explains that the series was originally the first part of a trilogy revolving around a surprising character: Jim the Mechanic, a character who ultimately died incredibly early in The Walking Dead #6. Kirkman