How the 177-Episode Zombie Series Deserves Kudos for Daring to Change Its Source Material

A long-running adaptation

The Walking Dead brought a post-apocalyptic zombie story to television over 177 episodes. The series ran for 11 seasons and became one of the best-known shows of the 2000s.

Based on comics by the same writer behind Invincible, the show was not a superhero production. It began strongly and continued to improve until around season 7, though its middle stretch proved divisive.

Characters reshaped for television

The show changed comic storylines, slowed the pace of some plots and created original characters. Daryl Dixon, who was not in the comics, became a fan favorite and later led his own spin-off.

Carol Peletier’s fate changed substantially: in the comics, she dies after walking into a zombie horde. On television, she survived all 11 seasons and appeared in all four seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

Different endings, new spin-offs

The television story also diverged for Negan, Maggie and Rick Grimes. Their comic-book endings differed from their television journeys, which later continued through spin-offs including Dead City. Rick dies in the comics, but after being presumed dead in the main show, he returned in The Ones Who Live and received a happy ending with Michonne. The comics instead paired Rick with Andrea.

Room to change the comics

The story argues that The Walking Dead’s changes helped make its later spin-offs and character resolutions possible. It also suggests that less mainstream comic adaptations may have more room to depart from their source material.

Marvel and DC have large, mainstream audiences with strong attachment to their original stories, making major adaptation changes more likely to spark controversy. The article points to 2025’s Superman, which portrayed the hero’s biological parents as genocidal dictators and divided viewers.