Warning: There are spoilers ahead if you haven't seen "The Walking Dead" through season six.
When adapting something from a preexisting source material, the usual rule is: don’t change things. Whether it’s events or characters or relationships, fans usually don’t respond well when someone messes with their favorite stories. Adapting a book or a comic can be a bit of a minefield.
But every now and then, especially when it comes to TV, some changes are not only necessary, but welcome. AMC’s The Walking Dead is one of those rare exceptions where change can be a good thing, especially since one of the show’s foundations is shock factor. By changing up certain factors of the story, the TV show is able to keep the jaw-dropping moments fresh, and in some cases, make certain storylines more palatable or coherent for a new medium.
The show has made a ton of changes, so this list obviously can’t cover everything, but hopefully we’ve included some of your favorite original TV moments. From switching up kills to creating cool new characters, here are the 15 best changes from The Walking Dead comic to the show.
15. Dale and Andrea's Relationship
If you think back to the old days of season 1 and 2, you might recall the charming father/daughter kinship shared between Dale and Andrea. Their relationship revolved around the wise Dale doling out fatherly advice to the much younger Andrea, much like a doting dad. The two opened up to each other about the death of loved ones, and Dale even risked his life at the CDC to convince her not to give up. Dale cared for Andrea like the daughter he never got to have with his own wife.
Now imagine if those two characters started making out. Yeah, not a great image. While the TV show kept it strictly platonic, in the comics, they operate with a whole different dynamic. Yeah, that’s right, Dale and Andrea hook up.
And before you ask, no, they didn’t make Dale older for the show. He’s still in his 60s when he dates her. Try getting that image out of your head next time you rewatch their scenes together. We’re kind of thankful for this small but significant change between the comics and TV show, because we just can’t see anyone being comfortable watching that.
14. More Morgan
In the comics, Morgan takes a bit of a back seat to the other, bigger players. There’s simply not much that sets him apart from the other survivors of the group. Abraham had his bravado and potty mouth, Glenn was the optimist, Hershel was the wise old man, Tyreese was a leader, Michonne wielded a samurai sword, etc. In truth, Morgan never really had anything that set him apart. But when it came time to cast the TV show, the creators chose the ever-commanding screen presence that is Lennie James. It suddenly became clear that Morgan could no longer be just another survivor, which is why beefing up his character made so much sense.
After a brief but incredibly memorable appearance in season 3, we were reintroduced to him during season 5 as a completely transformer character. The writers have gone in a completely new direction this time around, making Morgan a staunch pacifist who refuses to kill, even in the most extreme circumstances. Its a viewpoint that hasn’t been explored before in the show. Even the most peaceful of characters, like Dale and Glenn, have never been so black and white on the subject of death-dealing.
Not only did it give Morgan an added layer of character depth, it also proved to supply a new avenue of story telling. Including a fascinating flashback episode — guest-starring the always wonderful John Carroll Lynch — explained how he came to make this dramatic philosophical U-turn. And as frustrating as his stance may be sometimes, it is ultimately an interesting character arc with a stellar payoff at the end, when he was forced to kill to save Carol’s life. We’ll either see a conflicted and guilty Morgan next season or, as Lennie James has hinted at, a man who has just begun to unleash his inner beast. Either way, the show has made Morgan more than just another face in the apocalypse.
13. Douglas Monroe becomes Deanna Monroe
When our survivors reach the Alexandria Safe Zone in the comics, instead of meeting town matriarch Deanna Monroe, they are greeted by her on-the-page counterpart, Douglas. Instead of the kind, tough loving mother figure and leader we had with Deanna, Douglas Monroe was actually a bit of a creep. He treated his wife Regina, who’s TV counterpart becomes Reg, poorly, and considered their marriage as merely ‘political’. In his mind, this meant he could chase as many women as he likes, often offering them positions close to him in the community and following them around. He even tried to get Andrea to sleep with him despite his marital status.
The change from a lecherous womanizer to a calm and collected female character was a welcome one. Deanna was a more interesting and formidable character (despite her sometimes naive views about the dangers of the apocalypse) and she provided a better match for Rick. Watching these two leaders challenge and learn to understand one another made the story line all that much stronger. Of course, that is until she was eaten by walkers, as nearly everyone inevitably is.
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