With the return of The Walking Dead just a month away, a few new things have come ambling down the road today for fans of the series. First is that we’ve got the new midseason return poster available, which you can see much down below. Though it’s definitely an ensemble show, the poster goes with one of the toughest moments of the finale episode before the break for the lead character of Rick. The series returns after its holiday break on February 12th. Over at Deadline , they’re reporting that the third season of the series, which was picked up just after the start of the second season with its sizable ratings for AMC, has gotten a bit of a boost over the second season as it has been greenlit for sixteen episodes. The first season was more of a miniseries in a way with just six episodes while the second season is set for thirteen episodes. Though no firm date is set yet, the third season will return during the fourth quarter of 2012 and will likely be tied to the Halloween time frame again as the first two seasons were.
The winter press tour via TCA finished up this weekend as well and some interesting reports came out from the producers as they covered different things:
“The speed with which you turn into a zombie is something we’re very mindful of,” said creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman. “It’s based on your physical health at the time and other variables. You can be faster or slower. It all depends on your life as a zombie, how long you’ve been dead, the condition you were in when you died.” It was also pointed out that the zombies appeared on the whole to be walking faster this season, almost to the point of jogging. Executive producer Gale Anne Hurd explained that someone bitten in the leg would naturally not go very fast, “while if you’re bitten in the arm you’re going to motor a little faster. It’s all in the character and back story of each zombie.”
And in regards to the opening to season to that previous showrunner Frank Darabont wanted:
“The story was one we discussed internally; that was Frank’s pitch and it was one of many ideas examined in the writers’ room,” said executive producer Glen Mazarra, Darabont’s successor at the helm of the series. “It just felt like a stall and we wanted to get to our characters. We have a lot of ideas like that. … That was not something that was rejected by another party. That’s not accurate.” Darabont’s plan was allegedly a flashback to the early days of the zombie apocalypse. It told the story of a zombie soldier The Walking Dead lead Rick (Andrew Lincoln) came across in the series’ pilot, ending with their encounter before the show were to pick up with Rick and his crew in Episode 2.
