The Walking Dead is now among the longest-running shows currently on the air right now. Obviously, with longevity, there also comes change. In over 10 seasons worth of content, The Walking Dead has gone through characters joining and exiting the cast, executives coming and going, and even spinoffs. There is also a big-screen movie in development that Andrew Lincoln tells SFX Magazine will finally begin filming this Spring.
A lot has changed since the show first premiered on AMC in 2010, and some changes are seen more clearly than others. Either way, the show looks completely different from what it was in the first season.
10 Focusing On A Different Main Character
Rick Grimes was unquestionably the star of the show ever since the first episode, but things started to shift when Daryl Dixon joined the main cast. As Norman Reedus once explained in an interview with Screen Rant, he first auditioned for the part of Merle Dixon and, though he didn't get it, producer Frank Darabont was impressed enough to create an entirely original character for Reedus: Merle's brother, Daryl.
It was supposed to be a guest spot that would've seen Daryl killed off shortly after debuting, but fans quickly fell in love with Daryl enough that he's stuck around for 10 seasons and counting. He and Rick slowly started to share the spotlight and once Rick was out of the picture, Daryl became the bonafide star.
9 Main Characters Continue To Develop
Speaking of Daryl Dixon, fans will often say that the most noticeable change about the show is the characters themselves. Across 10 seasons, fans were treated to rewarding character development for each member of its main cast. It's hard to find a character who acts and thinks exactly the same as they did in their debut episodes.
Daryl Dixon has probably gone through the most drastic of character development, seeing as he quickly evolved from a racist, wisecracking hothead to a much more mature, tolerant, and serious man who is less likely to crack jokes than he used to.
8 Humans Are The New Villains
The Walking Dead started off as a standard zombie show in its first season. As time progressed and new human characters started to be introduced into the fray, it quickly became evident that walkers were the least of the protagonist's worries.
The first major example being Shane's sudden dangerous turn in the second season, but even he ultimately became zombified. Later seasons made it more clear that the biggest monsters in this realm were the everyday humans among the living, like The Governor, Negan, and even a heap of cannibals.
7 Morality Became More Blurred
On that same note, as much as it is easy to say that the villains have become more human, it is also worth noting that the humans themselves— the supposed "good guys"— have become more villainous.
As seasons go on, TWD has become more open with portraying humans as actual humans, flaws and all. And in real life, good guys are not always so indistinguishable from bad guys. The first season's heroes were clearly made out to be the heroes, but since then, everyone falls more within shade of gray instead of black and white. Negan is the antagonist, but he's also often sympathetic. Rick is a protagonist, but often the most ruthless of the group.
6 Location, Location, Location
The central location for The Walking Dead has changed almost as many times as its cast has over the years. Primarily because there has never been a central location to speak of that the cast has remained at for too long of a time.
The first season saw Rick lead the team to the CDC building and after that blew up, they set up shop at Hershel's Farm during the second season. Of course, that didn't work out either. Since then, the cast has been seen traveling from place to place refusing to remain dormant there for too long, helping the show feel fresh with a new location more or less every season.
5 Walkers Got Dumber & Uglier
During the first couple of seasons, the walkers were portrayed as smarter than the average zombie. This meant that zombies in this universe were hyper-aware of their surroundings enough to walk— sometimes run— a little faster than normal, pick up items, and even climb fences. They also didn't look as rotted out in the face with a subtler make-up still highlighting their humanity.
It appears that this decision came under the direction of Frank Darabont when he was the executive producer and showrunner when TWD first aired. Once he was fired, the zombies were suddenly designed and written like more traditional zombies (i.e. slower, braindead, more extreme-looking makeup, etc).
4 The Whole Grimes Family Is Dead, Pretty Much
When the first episode aired and centered around Rick Grimes, it would be easy to assume that the main character and his family would be safe from death, as is the preconceived notion with most shows not called Game of Thrones.
Unfortunately, for fans of the Grimes family, The Walking Dead stands tall with Game of Thrones as far as not being afraid to discard its main character or members of his family. First, Lori Grimes died during childbirth in the third season. Rick, while not dead, appeared dead to his group in his final episode and exited the cast afterward, so he might as well be dead. Finally, Carl died during the eighth season. The only Grimes still alive and part of the cast is baby Judith.
3 Everyone From The Pilot Is Gone Except Morgan Jones
Most of the drastic changes made to The Walking Dead over the years can be seen in the pilot episode. As mentioned earlier, the way that the walkers act is completely different in the first episode compared to future and more recent episodes, but the cast itself is also much different.
The pilot episode saw the onscreen debuts for Rick Grimes, Lori Grimes, Morgan Jones, Dale Horvath, Carl Grimes, and Shane Walsh. Among these characters, only Rick Grimes and Morgan are still alive and as stated earlier, Rick's basically dead as he exited the show. Morgan has since moved on to join the spinoff show, Fear the Walking Dead.
2 Time Skips
The first few seasons of The Walking Dead were pretty straightforward. More often than not, a season premiere of the show would open not long after where the previous season's finale ended. If not, then no more than a few months. However, later seasons decided to shake things up.
Borrowing a frequently used tool from anime, more recent seasons have been dedicated to major time skips. The biggest and most memorable coming in the ninth season, fast-forwarding 18 months into a future where Rick and Michonne were dating, Aaron lost a limb, Rick built a bridge, and Maggie raised a child. Following Rick's exit from the show that same season, another fast forward happened jumping six years in time.
1 Team Grimes Isn't The Only Survivor Group
Another easy assumption to make for new viewers heading into the first season is that the only main characters that the show would follow moving forward would be the survivor group led by Rick Grimes. Instead, later seasons would dedicate themselves to world-building by showing how the world has adapted with several different survivor groups and communities.
Negan had his Saviors, King Ezekiel had his Kingdom, and The Governor had the people of Woodbury. And that hardly scratches the surface as far as how many communities exist in the Walking Dead universe.
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