Is there such a thing as too many zombie stories?
We’re going to find out, as it seems likely that the new HBO series based on the video game The Last of Us will go up against the final season of AMC’s smash hit The Walking Dead.
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The Walking Dead has been the undisputed undead king of the mountain on television for a decade. The zombie horror survival series captured the attention and imagination of the entire world, and really kickstarted the zombie craze.
It even launched its own spin-off series, entitled Fear The Walking Dead.
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But The Walking Dead will be shuffling off with one final season in 2022.
We’re also going to be seeing another popular name in the world of zombie media hit the scene, when The Last of Us launches on HBO. The show is being run by Chernobyl scribe Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann, who directed The Last of Us games.
While we’ve known about the show for about a year now, HBO just recently greenlit it into production. We don’t have a release window or any casting news as of this time, but 2022 sounds like a likely time period.
That has got the entertainment world buzzing about the potential conflict between the two zombie shows.
Scott Gimple, a writer and producer for The Walking Dead, spoke about this in an interview with Insider recently.
“I think there’s room for all of us,” he said, talking about the similarities and differences between both shows. Gimple made the point that, while the shows both deal with zombie antagonists, they approach them in wildly different ways.
Gimple the noted that he would be watching The Last of Us when it premieres, and hopes that many others will tune into both shows.
The Walking Dead could prove a hurdle for the new series, more so than The Last of Us poses a threat to the long established franchise. While viewership on The Walking Dead has dropped off dramatically in recent years, it’s likely that the allure of a final season could draw a lot of people back.
Of course, in the era of streaming, where very few people actually watch anything live, it is very possible that people could easily tune into both of these shows.
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Unless, of course, after 11 seasons of The Walking Dead, the zombie genre has been beaten to death. (Pun fully intended)