SDCC 2013 – The Walking Dead Panel Recap

On the off chance that you missed it, let’s start off with the new trailer for season four of The Walking Dead.

That’s the same trailer that fans were treated to in Hall H at Comic-Con today. Now, let’s check out what happened in the hall.

As expected, Chris Hardwick was the Moderator for the panel. Joining him on stage were showrunner Scott Gimple, Robert Kirkman, David ALpert, Gale Anne Hurd, and Greg Nicotero. Later, David Morrissey, Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurrira, Steven Yeun, , Chad Coleman , Lauren Cohan, and Scott Wilson joined them.

Kirkman led off by talking about how the world is still not balanced and it is actually going to get a lot worse this season. Nicotero added to it by talking about how the make-up has gotten better and that he had just shot his coolest walker gag ever a couple days earlier.
An interesting nugget that came out about character deaths is that each character has a cast number, and when they die on the show, their number is retired and is hung in the studio as a memorial which they call the Gratful Dead.

One of the first things tackled was The Governor. Kirkman said that how and when he comes back to the series will be a mystery and David Alpert added that the worst thing the survivors can do is get too comfortable and lose their edge.

After they showed the trailer (link above), the question was posed about why they went back to the prison and didn’t just stay in Woodbury?
Lincoln fielded this one, saying that we will see the answer to that question. He also talked briefly about his character having less focus on leadership and more on taking care of his kids. additionally, he said that by season four, he’s finally come out of the emotional hole that he’s been in since Laurie’s death.
One funny comment came from Scott Wilson (Hershel) about his character’s motivation this year. He responded that his goal was just to keep his other leg.

Danai (Michonne) talked about how her character has become less of a loner. She also talked about how her part has become more intense and more physical than ever before.

Chad Coleman (Tyreese) said that he’s still trying to find how he fits in and that his character is not iherently violent (check out him wielding a machete in the trailer!)

Norman Reedus (Darryl) said that a big change for him is that, without Merle around, he’s now able to grow a lot more as an individual.

David Morrisey (The Governor) talked about how his character felt betrayed by everyone at the end of last season and a “switch” went off in his head when he had to take out his own people. We will see the ramifications of that in the new season.

So, to summarize, a fun panel for the cast and fans, a great new trailer, but pretty much no new news for season 4.