AMC's Walking Dead spinoff show, currently labeled Cobalt, is aiming to premiere sometime this year so filming is gearing up to start shooting in just a few days. The story itself will follow that of divorced teacher (Cliff Curtis) and his two kids trying to survive the Walker apocalypse in Los Angeles, alongside a guidance counselor (Kim Dickens) that he's in a relationship with. Creator of the comic and producer on the series, Robert Kirkman, recently opened up about the new show and his expectations for it.
Robert Kirkman on Cobalt:
I will say that this is going to be a show about family. But it’s going to be a show about a different type of family that we haven’t explored in The Walking Dead thus far. So what we’re trying to do with The Walking Dead spinoff is keep the story as familiar as possible for people that love The Walking Dead, so you’ll get the kind of things that you expect from a Walking Dead story. But, at the same time, we’ll want to tell these stories in a completely different way with completely different people in a completely different setting that’s going to make for a fundamentally different show. I think the look and feel of The Walking Dead spinoff is going to be startlingly different.
How Cobalt will relate to The Walking Dead:
We want it to be a new show that can stand on its own. You could watch The Walking Dead spinoff if you’ve never watched an episode of The Walking Dead and get a really great, rich, fulfilling experience out of it. It has to be a show that can stand on its own. I think that’s what we’ve accomplished, and we start filming in a couple of days. I’m really excited.
Regarding the location of Cobalt:
It’s Los Angeles. It’s a corner of the world that we have never explored in the comic book series. So, theoretically, something like this could be happening in Los Angeles in the comic book series, but we don’t show you this area of the country in the comic book series. So it fits within that world, but it is all new characters, all new events and all kinds of crazy stuff.
Kirkman attributes the different look and feel to Adam Davidson, who will be directing the pilot to Cobalt. Given that Davidson hasn't directed any previous episodes of The Walking Dead, this will lend the spinoff a different vibe. At the very least, I'm rather excited about the fact it's important that this show will stand on its own two feet. Here's hoping we have a very different experience in store for us come later this year.
The Walking Dead: Cobalt is set to premier sometime in 2015.