Now that AMC has moved The Walking Dead spinoff project to pilot, more information about the potential series has emerged, and that comes in the form of a list of principal characters and some descriptions, which fill in some of the sizable blanks about this project. There are five characters listed, but it's definitely worth noting that there are only three different last names among them.
We have TVLine to thank for the following list, which breaks down five of the characters populating The Walking Dead companion series pilot...
SEAN CABRERA | A Latino male in his early 40s, Sean is a good man trying to do right by everyone in his life.CODY CABRERA | Sean’s whip-smart and rebellious teenage son. Known as the angriest kid in town.NANCY TOMPKINS | A thirtysomething single mom to two kids, Nancy looks like the girl next door, but there’s an edge to her.NICK TOMPKINS | Nancy’s screwed up teenage son. He’s too old to stay home, too scared to flee.ASHLEY TOMPKINS | Nancy’s mostly level-headed teenage daughter. Her ambition is in direct proportion to her older brother’s failures. She loves her mom but it’s time to get out of Dodge.ANDREA CHAPMAN | A somewhat wilted flower child, fortysomething Andrea — yep, another Andrea! — has retreated to the outskirts of the city to recover after a horrible marriage.
So there are two families and one "somewhat wilted flower child" among this group. Are there traces of Rick and Carl in that father-son duo? The mention of kids in general comes with a side of foreboding, given the fate of some of the younger characters in The Walking Dead.
Beyond the general descriptions, their mentioned situations and motivations all seem to center around one location. Talk of "angriest kid in town," "outskirts of the city," "too scared to flee" and "get out of Dodge" implies that these characters are situated somewhere, as opposed to Rick's nomadic group. Of course, if the project does move forward, it's entirely possible that whoever survives the pilot will be on the move eventually.
Last fall, Robert Kirkman spoke with IGN about the spinoff and how exciting it was to get to start over again. He confirmed that it'll be set in the same world as the characters of The Walking Dead, but said that it would be a "really different location with completely different people."
And there was also talk of the project being a prequel of sorts, meaning that it would bring the story back to when the zombie apocalypse was just kicking off. That certainly would fall in line with the description we're seeing above, if it's a matter of people deciding whether or not to stay or go. And it would be great to see a different perspective on the start of all this, especially considering Rick was kind of comatose during the start of the outbreak.
The list of principal characters may be an indication that casting is underway, or will be soon. It'll be very interesting to see who's brought on board to star in this pilot. And hopefully those eventual casting updates will offer us a bit more to go on in terms of the plot.
In the meantime, The Walking Dead Season 5 is set to premiere October 12.
