During Skybound's SDCC panel, Robert Kirkman sat on stage with artist Charlie Adlard and Skybound executive Sean Mackiewicz and fieldied a bevy of fan questions during the final moments. Known for his sarcastic sense of humor, Kirkman had a rare moment of candid honesty when a fan asked about how the comic book would end. Kirkman admitted that originally, the series was going to end a lot sooner that readers would probably anticipate. "The end has changed. There was one version that would have had it ending as soon as everybody reached Alexandria."
Based on that answer, it appears Kirkman thought The Walking Dead would have concluded long ago, as Rick and co. reached Alexandria with issue 69. The comic just released issue 157 today.
If we really want to scrutinize what Kirkman stated, he's implying that the ending to the series has changed more than once. During the SDCC panel for the AMC show, series star Andrew Lincoln admitted that he had no idea when things will wrap up but interestingly teased that there could be some synergy between the TV show and comic in that department. "
I don’t know, man. I mean, the comic book’s still going, and Scott Gimple said that maybe there was an opportunity to finish the comic book and finish the TV series at the same time, which would be kind of cool. You should probably ask Robert Kirkman."
Each passing season brings the TV series closer to the current state of the ongoing comic as the 45-minute (ish) program burns through a lot of the comic's story with each episode. Although there have been tweaks, the show has more-or-less retained the larger elements and major characters from the comic book such as The Governor, Shiva, Negan, etc.
How do you think the show/comic will end? Let us know in the comment section below.