Following the tragic death of a stuntman on the set of “The Walking Dead” Season 8, the entire cast and crew is reportedly dealing with the grief in their own way. At least, that’s what the series creator had to say when asked at a recent Television Critics Association (TCA) panel.
As previously reported, AMC was forced to tell the press that it would not be having its regular “The Walking Dead” panel at the TCA fall press tour. Scott Gimple and other producers were reportedly attending the funeral of stuntman John Bernecker, who died early this month after suffering an injury during an on-set accident. While the funeral overlapped with AMC’s time at the TCA, series creator Robert Kirkman was still there to field what few questions he was able to. Naturally, he was asked about the recent tragedy and how it would affect the show going forward.
“No storylines were changed, you know, that was a tragic accident. It wasn’t story related, it was just a freak accident that happened on set and it’s something that we’re dealing with, but it hasn’t affected the storyline in any way,” Kirkman said, per Deadline. The 38-year-old writer went on to explain that the cast and crew are dealing with it. “It’s a tragedy, so it’s something that everyone is dealing with in their own way, and it’s something that will continue to stick with us for years to come.”
“The Walking Dead” producers considered canceling their recent appearance at the San Diego Comic Con, similar to that of the TCA panel. However, producers decided that they wanted to show off the new trailer for the upcoming eighth season, which they noted that the late Bernecker worked hard on as well. The trailer dropped jaws at the convention, particularly with the reveal that there would be some kind of time jump – showing an older Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in need of a cane.
“I’m pretty sure you’ll learn in the first episode what that means,” Kirkman teased, according to The Hollywood Reporter, telling the crowd that he can’t say much, but that they’re supposed to be confused about that trailer reveal.