The Walking Dead cut a Night of the Living Dead tribute walker
By Adam Carlson
A zombie meant to pay tribute to the classic zombie film Night of the Living Dead during The Walking Dead’s sixth season ended up on the cutting room floor.
For many fans of the zombie genre, their introduction to the undead was the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. Considered by many to be the most influential zombie movie of all time, The Walking Dead‘s executive producer and special effects master Greg Nicotero never hides his love for this amazing film and credits it often in his speeches.
However, things didn’t go as Nicotero had planned when he anticipated paying homage to one of the most recognizable zombies ever, Johnny from George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, during the show’s sixth season.
According to a post on Greg Nicotero’s Instagram account, which is a MUST FOLLOW for fans of The Walking Dead and special effects, he wanted to include this zombie, but missed a great opportunity early in season 6 to showcase the tribute walker.
Nicotero expressed his disappointment about not including the zombie in the sixth season of The Walking Dead, knowing that he missed a golden opportunity to include the tribute walker in the season 6 premiere.
"“The tribute Walker that hit the cutting room floor from episode 6 of this last season…Johnny from the one and only Night of the Living Dead! After the fact I realized I should have used him in the premiere and he would have been in black and white. Damn!!”"
Hopefully, there will be many more opportunities for The Walking Dead and Greg Nicotero to pay tribute to Johnny and other famous zombies in future episodes of AMC’s survival drama series. For such a popular show to continue paying respects to the pioneers of the genre is a fun way to let fans in on the history while providing fresh, new monsters.
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You can catch AMC’s The Walking Dead when it returns for season 7 in October of 2016. In the meantime, fans can check out Fear The Walking Dead or watch older episodes of the hit show and try to see if they can spot any other tribute walkers in the show’s past.