The Walking Dead has, for over a decade now, entertained audiences across the globe with its gritty and stomach-churning apocalyptic drama. Ever since Season 1 however, fans have been wondering what happened to the ‘smart zombies’ that could try to climb ladders, pick up rocks and use them as tools to smash through doors. In The Walking Dead Season 11 Part 3, the show will use its final eight episodes to finally reveal
A throwback to The Walking Dead’s smart zombies
During the San Diego Comic-Con press conference for The Walking Dead earlier this year, showrunner Angela Kang was asked about the trailer showcasing the final eight episodes of the series. It appeared to tease an intelligent breed of zombie, right at the end of the clip, with one in particular attempting to climb over a fence.
“I think with the walkers, in some ways it’s a throwback to some walkers we saw back in the very, very first season of The Walking Dead, but not everybody ever encountered those walkers,” Kang explained. “It’s almost like it was a variant that just was regional.”
There are eight episodes left to wrap up the story being told in The Walking Dead, so writers are taking a risk by reintroducing a smarter, faster breed of Walkers. Long-term fans will however be excited to get some answers about the zombies they first saw way back in 2010.
This variant breed was recently shown off in a five-minute sequence during the series finale of spin-off The Walking Dead: World Beyond in December 2021. Viewers saw a virologist mention a “variant cohort” in America, before a separate scene showed a woman killed and reanimated in mere moments, rather than hours. Her speed, strength and aggression all appeared to far surpass that of the regular zombies audiences are used to seeing.
In other news, The Walking Dead’s upcoming movie has been canceled in favor of a limited series with Rick and Michonne, while fans wonder if Maggie will die in The Walking Dead Season 11.
