Considering the monumental success of The Walking Dead, it's no surprise that creator Robert Kirkman wound up getting another TV series off the ground. Kirkman wrote the comic and the pilot episode of Outcast simultaneously. They tell the story of Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit), a man who's been plagued by malicious paranormal forces since he was a child. At the start of the comic and the show, he's given up. He's completely shut himself off from the rest of the world and spends his day longing for his wife and daughter. However, with some encouragement from Reverend Anderson, Kyle decides enough is enough. He's going to fight whatever it is that's been tormenting him and those around him all his life.
Just before the world premiere of the pilot episode of Outcast at SXSW, I got the chance to sit down with Kirkman to discuss his experience getting the go-ahead to make the comic and show, how bringing Outcast to screen differed from his experience turning The Walking Dead into a TV series, how he's improved as a comic writer and much more. You can catch it all in the video interview at the top of this article. You can watch the first episode of Outcast right here and see subsequent episodes every Friday at 10pm on Cinemax.
Robert Kirkman:
- 00:04 - How getting Outcast off the ground compared to getting The Walking Dead going.
- 00:53 - Having the freedom to do what he wants with Outcast.
- 01:14 - The causal conversation that led to the creation of Outcast.
- 02:23 - Writing the comic while he wrote the pilot.
- 03:05 - How he's improved as a comic writer.
- 03:55 - Collaborating with showrunner Chris Black, director Adam Wingard and the directors stepping in after Wingard.
- 05:50 - Kirkman's opinion on the rise of digital comics.
- 07:05 - Utilizing familiar exorcism mythology and building upon it.
- 09:00 - Kirkman on how he got involved in the Transformers franchise and why he had to leave the writers' room.