The Walking Dead: Kirkman promises big payoff for cliffhanger

The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman apologizes to fans about the big season 6 cliffhanger but promises that the situation will be resolved in an awesome way.

Cliffhangers are nothing new. They’ve been around forever on television shows, movies, comic books, video games, and every other form of media out there. However, when a program like The Walking Dead leaves a major cliffhanger during the season 6 finale, it gets people talking.

For this cliffhanger, fans were left wondering if their favorite character was going to die. There was little doubt that Negan will be smashing in the head of one of the survivors, but the hit AMC show took fans right up to the point where that information would be discovered and then left them hanging.

While some fans respect this storytelling method, others seemed very irritated or upset. Some called it a marketing ploy to get people to tune in for season 7 of The Walking Dead in October and some just felt it as a poor way to tell the story. However, this issue was addressed by Robert Kirkman in a question and answer session at the end of the most recent issue of the hit comic book series.

"“We weren’t trying to game the audience, we weren’t trying to drive you crazy, and we certainly weren’t trying to FORCE you to come back for season 7… we hope you were always planning on doing that and still plan on doing that.”"

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Honestly, if fans were on the fence about tuning in for season 7 of The Walking Dead, then these aren’t the hardcore, rabid followers of the series who are throwing their hands up in the air in disgust over the long wait until season 7.

Admittedly, it’s a long wait to not know if your favorite character could possibly be dead when the show returns to AMC, but fans need to have some patience and wait to see if the payoff from the cliffhanger is worthy of the long wait.

"“Everyone on TWD team wanted to do something cool. We wanted to do something different and we did it to change things up, get people excited and keep this show on your mind. For some of you, that effort backfired and you’re angry. And for that I’m sorry. The only thing I can PROMISE you is that the season 7 premiere is going to be awesome. And when viewed as a two-part episode (the same way EVERY SEASON of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended with the first half of a two-part episode that was a cliffhanger…), it’s going to be a pretty awesome ride. And every minute of the season 6 finale was important and was setting something up that you probably won’t see coming. It’s a cool episode… and remember… there’s a LOT more for Negan to do. Be afraid… be very afraid. And excited!”"

Next: Who did Negan kill? Check out the odds here!

You can catch the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead this October. However, fans can help get over the long wait by checking out the great comic book series or the increasingly interesting companion series Fear The Walking Dead on AMC.

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