“The Walking Dead” hasn’t been off the air for long, but the show runners, writers and producers are already elbow-deep in writing Season 5.
In an interview with Robert Kirkman reveals how far the “Walking Dead” team is into Season 5. Considering filming starts in May, it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that the season is already halfway written.
“I just turned in the second episode script for Season 5, and all the writers are hard at work on their individual episodes,” Kirkman says. “We’re pretty much halfway through the fifth season, script-wise. And we’ve already nailed down what our finale is, and what our overall arc of the season is. The back half of the season is taking shape very quickly, and we’ll have all the scripts written by the summer.”
Hitting Season 5 is a bit accomplishment for any TV series, but Kirkman says he gets the sense this is just the beginning. “It’s strange for me, being on the fifth season, because I feel like we just started,” he says. “On some shows, on some great shows, they run for five seasons and they’re done. And it’s like, ‘Wow, that show ran for a long time.’ I feel like we’re still very much getting started, which is the feeling I’ve always had on the comics. So that’s definitely a strange thing to realize, that five years have passed already.”
Kirkman shoots down rumors that Jon Hamm could potentially take the role of Negan, but he does say that he and showrunner Scott Gimple are in talks about who they could cast as the role. Kirkman does caution that a Negan introduction could be a ways away.
“As far as Negan casting goes, Scott and I are always talking about who we would put in that, it’s definitely on our minds, and there are definitely a lot of candidates,” Kirkman says. “But I wouldn’t expect Negan too terribly soon, although he is definitely in the plan. It’s a 99 percent lock that he’s going to be in the show eventually, so be on the lookout for that.”
He also offers an update on the announced “Walking Dead” companion series, saying, “I’m actively working with [showrunner] Dave Erickson on that, and we know when our proposed release date is — although I can’t tell you that, obviously. We’re working towards that show, and it’s gonna be awesome.”
