This was probably the biggest deal, out of a lot of big deals, for me this weekend. Knowing I had to wait until October to get Season 3 of ‘The Walking Dead’ has been tearing me apart for weeks. Especially now that issue 100 of the comic has come and gone, it feels like one long massive quiet before the (next) storm. So I gladly shoved my ass into a chair in the dreaded Hall H and waited hours for my introduction to Woodbury, Michonne, The Governor, and a chance to get reacquainted with old friends. They did not disappoint. The panel was one of the biggest I’ve ever seen with, almost, the entire cast taking part. Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, and newcomers David Morrissey & Danai Gurira represented the cast. Robert Kirkman, Glen Mazzara, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, and Dave Alpert represented the production side of things. And then we were off.
– Chris Hardwick moderated (and did a great job by the way) and started things off by asking Kirkman about the backlash of the fans about the first half of season 2. Kirkman promises that season 3 starts at the level season 2 left off, and doesn’t stop.
– Greg Nicotero says the decomposition of the zombies is really starting to become more relevant in the show. For the first time, he gets to use animatronic puppets in this season.
– Nicotero added that he gets to direct this season too. He just finished his first episode, written by Angela Kang, and boasts that it features a “few” iconic moments from the comic book.
– Mazzara takes a break in the action to announce that the show will be returning Sunday, October 14th, 2012.
– The Season 3 Trailer. Holy crap.
– If you’re too lazy to click or have an internet connection provided by MTV, I’ll highlight it for you.
- Michonne being badass and taking out two zombies with one slash of her katana sword.
- Rick and Daryl discovering the prison.
- Many shots of the group clearing the prison of zombies. Everybody equally badass.
- An introduction to the Governor and Woodbury.
- The Ricktatorship in full effect as he claims “You’re not getting in this Prison. We took it. It’s ours”
- Face-to-face with Rick and the Governor where Rick threatens his life.
- Lots of zombie death.
- A helicopter crash.
- A campfire song.
- Carl, locked and loaded.
- And the return of Merle, with a homemade hand.
– Sarah Wayne Callies addresses the fans hatred of her character. She’s getting yelled at in the streets, while with her daughter, for banging her husband’s best friend.
– Laurie Holden talks about how different the next season is for her character, Andrea, because she’s separated from the original group and forms a tight bond with the Michonne character. The two actresses have apparently really hit it off in real life too. I thought they might make out. They didn’t.
-Lincoln compared Rick in the beginning of season 3 to being a part of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’. The entire arc has him finding out that he really does need this group to survive. He also raved about the work of Chandler Riggs (Carl) and admitted to starting a bromance with Norman Reedus. they also didn’t make out.
– With all the British actors on the show, the production holds accent classes every Sunday on Skype. Lincoln says he never breaks the Rick voice while filming in Atlanta and was actually asked to scale it down in the early episodes because the director didn’t want to have to use sub-titles.
– Kirkman was asked (for the 900th time) if Daryl will ever make it into the comic book. He beat around the bush for a while and then said no, because he’s had the story arc for the book planned out for years. Then he said he didn’t know. Then he said that there’s a new video game coming out soon from Activision that will tell the back-story of the Dixon brothers, Daryl and Merle.
– Morrissey compared the love and dedication to the show to that of ‘Doctor Who’. He says they are both handled with grace and a determined professionalism.
– Steven Yeun admits that it’s time for his character, Glenn, to man-up.
– Speaking of Steven, he unwillingly provided the funniest parts of the panel. After 2 or 3 young girls got up in a row and declared their love for him, Hardwick started to subtly slip in under-age jokes throughout the presentation. At one point Steven got up and started walking off the stage.
– Reedus, also very popular with the (legal) ladies seems to be the most humbled of the group. He loves this character and he loves this show so much it seems hard for him to be so cool. He is though, and looks forward to having us watch as Daryl lets go of his tough-guy act a little bit and really start to become a key ingredient to this group of survivors.