Warning! Spoilers for The Walking Dead by Skybound Comics
Robert Kirkman, the creator behind The Walking Dead, has revealed that the cause of the zombie apocalypse in the comic book series will never be explained. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #41, Kirkman officially gave a reason why he never gave a reason for the zombie outbreak in the world of the series: He was never interested in doing so, believing it was better to let the mystery be.
In the world of The Walking Dead, a zombie outbreak has radically changed everything, leading its human inhabitants to fight for survival in a world that's constantly trying to kill them. The cause of the zombie apocalypse has never been explained, as the comic book's creator Robert Kirkman once jokingly revealed the actual cause was "space spores." However, Kirkman gave an honest answer to the reason why he is never going to actually explain how zombies came to be, as there were very specific story reasons for keeping things intentionally vague.
In The Walking Dead Deluxe #41 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Rus Wooton, and Dave McCaig, Kirkman explains that he was never interested in dealing with the cause of the zombie outbreak. In a letter at the end of the issue explaining each page, Kirkman itted a reason that he doesn't explain how zombies came to be in The Walking Dead, is because it would "push things too far to the realm of sci-fi." Instead, he said it's best to leave the story unresolved as it makes the horror comic feels more grounded in reality.
Kirkman did it in the same letter, that tons of fans have asked him to reveal the reason behind the zombie outbreak and that he wasn't "above pandering to them from time to time in ways [he] found interesting." So, while the creator of The Walking Dead felt like it was best for the zombie apocalypse's cause to go unexplained, he seemed to have fun interacting with fans about the potential reasons. Check out the full explanation below.
"I really was never interested in dealing with the cause of the zombie outbreak. My opinion has been well-documented, but the short version is… any detailed explanation would push things too far into the realm of sci-fi for me. I think it's better to leave it unresolved. That way, the story remains grounded. That said… Tons of fans wanted me to explore it, and I was not above pandering to them from time to time in ways I felt were interesting."
Ultimately, Kirkman made the correct decision in leaving the reason for the zombie apocalypse intentionally unexplained. The story isn't driven by the search for answers about the true cause of the zombie outbreak but instead is about the characters surviving in the bleak world and their adventures together. Explaining The Walking Dead's zombie outbreak would ultimately cheapen the incredible storytelling from Robert Kirkman and his collaborators, as in this case, as the creator of the comic book series wrote, it was best left unexplained.
