Since premiering on AMC in 2010, The Walking Dead -- which is based on Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore's comic book series of the same name -- and its spin-offs have featured some of the most gruesome and grotesque zombies in all of media. However, not every zombie ends up making it into live-action. Now, Skybound and AMC Networks have given CBR an exclusive preview of The Art of AMC's The Walking Dead Universe, which shows concept art of an unused zombie from the Walking Dead: World Beyond spin-off -- and it's terrifying.
Dubbed "The Melting Face Man," the zombie was initially intended to appear in the Walking Dead: World Beyond pilot, "Brave." However, he wasn't included in the episode due to time constraints. "One of the first pieces of concept art Greg sent us wasn't for a Walker, it was for a man whose skin was literally melting off his body while he was being electrocuted by fallen powerlines," World Beyond executive producer and co-creator Matt Negrete explains in the book. "The design and boards were incredibly stomach-churning in the best way."
Producer Amy Beth Barnes added, "That was one of the first pieces of concept art that Greg sent to us. When you have eyeballs liquefying and running down the face... that's where I get cringey." Still, Barnes -- a longtime The Walking Dead Universe veteran -- said she was sad to lose the scene.
As the concept art -- which predates the finalization of World Beyond's cast -- makes clear, the Melting Face Man would have initially appeared as a living person during a flashback to the "Night the Sky Fell," the series' specific term for the start of the zombie apocalypse. After dying, the man would have -- by the franchise's resurrection rules -- returned to life and become a zombie.
Currently, The Walking Dead: World Beyond airs Sundays on AMC. The series, which stars Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Hal Cumpston, Nicolas Cantu, Nico Tortorella and Annet Mahendru, is in its second and final season.
You can see CBR's exclusive preview of The Art of AMC's The Walking Dead Universe below. The book releases Nov. 16.
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