Many fans were surprised to hear that Glen Mazzara was stepping down as the showrunner of The Walking Dead after only one full season. This wasn't necessarily cause for alarm, though. His replacement for Season 4 was Scott M. Gimple, who has written a number of fan-favorite episodes from the series and has been a producer since Season 2.
Every showrunner is going to have a different take on the material they're adapting and Robert Kirkman commented on Gimple's approach during a recent interview:
via THR: "[Gimple's approach is]... a much more character-based story. It's going to be more focused on who these characters are and what they're going through. To a certain extent, we got away from that a little bit in season three. Coming into season four, we're definitely going to know a lot more about these people so it will be that much more gut-wrenching and worse when we lose these characters.
...More than any other showrunner, Scott actually read the comics regularly and was a huge fan before show existed and watched the first season and was a fan before he was brought on as a writer in season two. He absolutely loves the material. We are definitely going in some new directions and this will continue to be a different take on the material form the comics but there will possibly be some scenes that are a little bit closer to the comic than we've done in the past. Season four probably has the most number of scenes that are adapted directly from the comic series or very close to what we did. A good deal of that is from Scott and the way he views that material and puts forth that extra effort to work it into the show in a way that it all works."
As for where Season 4 picks up, Robert Kirkman confirmed that there will be another time jump:
"There's going to be a bit of a time jump. Some time has passed between season three and season four. It's only a few months, we're not nailing down the exact number of days or anything like that. The prison that we see is a very different prison and the characters that we see are very different from the last time we saw them. We go into season four with characters you've known for four years and still find new things to explore with them and new aspects of their character and see that they are growing and changing in extremely dramatic ways due to the strains that this world has put upon them."
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Get ready for an overload of content from The Walking Dead next week, as we head to San Diego for live Comic-Con coverage. Our plans include exclusive interviews, new Season 4 details, an early look at The Walking Dead collectibles, contests, and more. Catch up on our recent coverage by visiting the following links:
TV Series Coverage:
Comic Book Series Coverage:
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