When it was announced a few weeks back that the character The Governor would be featuring in season 3 of the show and that english actor David Morrissey had been cast in the role of The Walking Dead's most notorious villain I was completely gobsmacked. Not because I thought it was a bad choice or anything but I wondered how on earth they were going to bring the story of Philip Blake (The Governor) to the tv show without toning it down.
I'll come back to that in a minute though.
Regarding David Morrissey I'm really excited about seeing him take on the role. I know a lot of people have only seen him star alongside David Tennant in "The Next Doctor", the 2008 Christmas special of Doctor Who, playing Jackson Lake. But he's also been in many other hit shows and in films such as Some Voices, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, before he played the critically acclaimed roles of Stephen Collins in State of Play. He was also in... erm... Basic Instinct 2.
I know some of our American brothers are not happy with his casting as they seem to think he doesn't look "evil" enough but if you know the character and how he starts out then you will understand he isn't meant to look evil.
If you have never read the comics I don't really want to spoil it for you but if you are interested then take a look
HERE at The Walking Dead Wiki's page for the comic book character. Put it this way though. It's one of the most brutal storyline I've ever read in a comic and that's not because it involves zombies either. I can't help but wonder how gruesome they are going to get with the Governor storyline on the tv show?
Last week I read an American TV journalist and fan of the comic point out that although AMC are pretty relaxed with what they allow in their shows they are going to piss a lot of people of either way by adding too much brutality or cutting it out near enough completely which would annoy fans of the comic. Lucky enough though I came across this quote from comic creator and producer of the TV show Robert Kirkman regarding what is coming up in season 3.
Can the dark tone of the comic be matched on the TV series? Some of the stuff with the Governor was pretty intense; how far can you take that on TV?
Kirkman: There are certain boundaries for different mediums. I think that having the month long break between issue to issue or the 6 month break between volume to volume — you can push boundaries to a certain extent on a regular basis, more so than you can on a television show. So there might be instances where we go as dark as the comic in the show, but then we cut short and try to do something else and try to shift gears. People on a couch want to be entertained, they don’t want to be completely depressed. That said, we’re definitely going to go to those places.
There are some things coming up in the 3rd season that I can happily and proudly say exceed some of the darkest things that we’ve done in the comic. I think people are really going to be pretty shocked with a lot of stuff that’s coming. The show is gonna have teeth, the show is not going to be a watered down version of the Walking Dead [comic].
After reading that I must say Kirkman has put my mind at rest.
If you are only a fan of the TV show though I'd suggest before season 3 hits screens you get hold of the novel which came out last year called 'The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor'. It depicts The Governor's struggle to survive the zombie apocalypse with his brother, his niece and their friends before the events of the comic book and I'm guessing now the TV show as well.
Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings but I'd like to go on record now in saying I'd be very shocked if the real Merle didn't turn up again in season 3. Where the group are heading is exactly the sort of place the one handed racist hillbilly would be most at home. And surely he will be looking for a bit of revenge on Rick for making him have to cut his hand off? Heck, maybe he'll cut Rick's hand off as payback?
Just saying.
