The Walking Dead has been at the center of a heated controversy about the level of violence in its episode with Season 7 kicking off with skull-crushing scenes.
When viewers threatened to boycott the show arguing that The Walking Dead has gone too far since Negan joined the cast, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd explained last month that they “toned down” the violence in the next episodes following fans’ reactions to the show.
But the core of the Walking Dead fans bashed the show for even considering reducing the violence.
As a result, Scott Gimple and executive producer Greg Nicotero have stepped up to make it clear that they would never compromise their creative vision with restrictions on the level gore. Those who tune into The Walking Dead for violence can once again be excited to watch the hit Sunday series.
Gimple’s explanation is that the rest of Season 7 is less violent than the premiere only because only the premiere justified so much violence.
“The violence in the premiere was pronounced for a reason. The awfulness of what happened to the characters was very specific to that episode and the beginning of this whole new story. I don’t think that’s the base level of violence that necessarily should be on the show. It should be specific to a story and a purpose, and there was a purpose of traumatizing these characters to a point where maybe they would have been docile for the rest of their lives, which was Negan’s point.”
Nicotero argues that the show will never restrict themselves.
“As brutal as that episode 1 was, it’s still part of our storytelling bible, which is what the world is about. I don’t think we would ever edit ourselves, and I think — even after looking at that episode 1 again — as tough as it was for people to watch, I don’t think we would have done it any differently. I don’t think we’ll ever pull ourselves back. There is definitely a difference between violence against walkers and human on human violence, but truthfully, we’re serving our story.”
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