Editorials
Here’s How “The Walking Dead” Could Actually Keep Carl Alive
He’s not dead yet. And that leaves us with some questions.
At the very end of this past Sunday night’s mid-season finale of “The Walking Dead” (Season 8), we were left with something of a cliffhanger. Carl revealed to Rick, and to us, that he had sustained a zombie bite to his stomach, suggesting that it’s only a matter of time before Carl is either a) put down, or b) starts getting *really* hungry.
But what’s interesting is that Carl hasn’t actually died yet. Couple that with showrunner Scott M. Gimple’s coy comments on “Talking Dead” immediately after the episode aired – Gimple skirted around the issue of whether or not Carl is actually going to die, even if he did seem to suggest that Carl’s days are indeed numbered – and you wouldn’t be too out of line to posit that maybe, just maybe, the show is pulling a fast one on us.
After all, Glenn’s infamous dumpster incident made it clear that AMC is not above resorting to pretty sleazy tactics as a means of getting us talking and tuning in.
Granted, actor Chandler Riggs’ father has publicly proclaimed that his son was “fired” from the series, thus why he was killed off, but let’s have a little fun here, shall we?
There are a few conceivable ways that Carl could live…
1) THE BITE DOESN’T ACTUALLY KILL CARL
According to “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman, it’s not actually a bite from a walker that turns a human into a walker, but rather the infection (or blood loss) that results from that bite. As we learned back in Season 2, every human being left alive on the planet is already infected, meaning that anyone who dies – no matter the circumstances – comes back to life as a zombie. So it’s not the bite that’s been turning characters such as Deanna, for example; rather, she died as a result of an infection from the bite, and in death she became a zombie.
So then, armed with this information, is it so hard to believe that Carl will somehow survive infection from the bite itself, therefore not dying and not becoming a walker?
All Scott Gimple really said on “Talking Dead” this past Sunday night is that “the bite will play out the way bites play out on the show,” which is a pretty coy way of speaking about the Carl shocker that certainly leaves room to line up with this particular theory. Carl will become infected by the bite (as he clearly already is), as we’ve seen bites affect characters on the show in the past, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the bite will actually kill him… now does it?
2) CARL IS IMMUNE
Another theory suggests that Carl Grimes is one of any number of humans left alive who is actually immune to the zombie virus, but this particular theory operates under the assumption that it’s the bite itself that infects the bitten with said virus. If Carl is indeed immune, sure, he wouldn’t become a zombie after he dies from the bite, which would certainly be an interesting twist for the show – a twist that could perhaps lead to a cure that would put an end to the walkers altogether.
But given the rules of the series, Carl would still die from the infection caused by the bite in this scenario, which shoots a big hole through it as a means of keeping Carl alive.
3) A CURE IS COMING
Again, a cure for the virus inside every living human being wouldn’t actually save Carl’s life, so there’s no sense exploring this theory in relation to his survival.
4) CARL WASN’T EVEN BITTEN BY A WALKER
The wackiest theory about this one, just for fun, is that when Carl was bitten by what we assume was a walker back in Episode 6, he actually wasn’t bitten by a walker at all.
This theory is that Carl was bitten by a Whisperer, a clan – not yet introduced within the series – of survivors who cloak themselves in zombie skins as a means of blending in and avoiding detection by the walkers. An amusing theory, if nothing more, but if you go back and watch the moment where Carl is bitten in Episode 6, it was clearly at the hands of an actual walker.
So. Yeah.
What do you think? Is Carl going to die? If not, how will they keep him alive?
Comics
‘Spider-Noir’ Comic Changes Explained: How the TV Series Reinvents Marvel’s Darkest Spider-Man
A little while back, I wrote an article chronicling the Hellraiser franchise’s affinity for Film Noir and touched on how that genre has, historically, always been connected to horror.
This connection can be observed in everything from the cannibalistic serial killers of Frank Miller’s Sin City to the disturbing criminal plots fueling neo-noir thrillers like Stuart Gordon’s underrated King of the Ants. That’s why it came as no surprise when I finally sat down to watch all eight episodes of Prime Video’s recently released Spider-Noir series and was confronted with plenty of classic horror tropes.
What did come as a surprise, however, was how showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot approached these horror elements when compared to the 2009 comic book that the show is based on. From the heavily altered rogue’s gallery to an equally terrifying yet completely different origin story for Nicolas Cage’s take on the webslinger, there are plenty of changes here that I feel might be of interest to genre fans.
With that in mind, I’d like to invite readers to take a closer look at all the adjustments that Spider-Noir made to the story in order to bring this incarnation of Spider-Man to life in all of its monochromatic glory (unless you watched the True-Hue color version of the show, in which case you’ll be treated to a surprisingly comic-booky palette that you don’t usually see on television).
The Dark Origins of Marvel’s Spider-Man Noir
Our first order of business should be to examine the origins of the Noir comics themselves. Originally published as part of the Marvel Noir alternate universe that reimagined several characters as hard-boiled crime-fighters, Spider-Man Noir became the most successful book in the entire run. This highly politicized story about Peter Parker coming to terms with the capitalist evils of the Great Depression seemed to have struck a nerve with audiences looking for a darker take on the wall-crawler, which is likely why we’d soon see several sequel stories as well as a video game adaptation of the character in 2010’s underrated Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
Of course, it wasn’t just Spider-Man’s darker disposition that made this version of the character a hit, as 1930s New York City was depicted as being much more hostile than what we generally see in the standard Marvel Universe. From Peter’s powers coming from an Eldritch Spider God that spawns man-eating arachnids to Vulture being an ex-Freak-Show Gimp with a taste for human flesh, you can definitely understand why this Web-Head isn’t pulling his punches.
Unfortunately, this alternate universe was a little too popular for its own good, with each subsequent sequel/adaptation further diluting the political anger and classic horror influences that fueled the original comic-book run in order to appeal to a wider audience. Spider-Man Noir was nearly unrecognizable once we got to the Spider-Verse crossover that turned the character into a household name, though this would at least lead to an interesting adaptation in 2018.
The Classic Horror Influences Hidden Throughout Spider-Noir
Jack Huston as Sandman in ‘Spider-Noir’
When Phil Lord and Chris Miller finally translated Spider-Man Noir to the big screen, with Nicolas Cage bringing the character to life in an unexpected case of pitch-perfect casting, he was still mostly relegated to comic relief as his nazi-punching antics and over-the-top edginess were played for laughs. However, while this version of the character had little to do with the comics that spawned him, Spider-Noir’s newfound popularity eventually resulted in the announcement of a darker live-action spin-off – a spin-off that I was cautiously optimistic about.
While the showrunners ultimately decided to go in a completely different direction than the 2009 comic, the new team of writers appeared to understand Noir as a genre in ways that even the folks at Marvel Noir couldn’t quite grasp. That’s likely why 2026’s Spider-Noir boasts plenty of horror elements, just not in ways we’ve seen them before.
The series is obviously borrowing tropes and aesthetics from period-accurate monster movies, with Universal’s 1930s output being a particularly big influence. From the re-imagining of Sandman and Tombstone as tragic figures to The Spider even being operated on by a mad scientist with hilariously antiquated techniques, this bizarre collection of super-powered freaks could have easily shown up in a classic creature feature.
The scares aren’t all retro, however, as the showrunners also injected plenty of body-horror into the mix during their attempt at unifying the origin stories for all these larger-than-life characters. Hell, the Spider himself is now revealed to have gained his powers after being bitten by a half-mutated Man-Spider during World War I, and the aforementioned mad scientist keeps a disturbing collection of failed experiments in her basement, proving that not all of her patients were lucky enough to simply gain superpowers after being experimented on.
Nicolas Cage Reinvents Spider-Man Noir for Television
Ben Reilly/Spiderman (Nicolas Cage) in SPIDER-NOIR
Photo: Aaron Epstein/Prime
© Amazon Content Services LLC
I also really appreciate how Cage insists on depicting Ben Reilly as an arachnid trapped inside of a human body, with his uncanny physical performance and classic Hollywood impressions keeping your eyes glued to the screen while also providing some of the show’s funniest moments.
I still think it’s a shame that the character is no longer politically motivated, and I miss the detail about Uncle Ben having been cannibalized by Vulture after his social activism ruffled too many feathers, but at least this time our protagonist actually feels like someone who could have been written by Raymond Chandler if he were a fan of Superheroes.
In fact, the writers nailed the snappy back-and-forth that Noir authors like Dashiel Hammett used to refer to as the “riposte”, and it’s fun to see supervillains being depicted as horrific movie monsters instead of specialized henchmen – with The Spider feeling like just as much of a Freak Show attraction as the rest of them. Purists might be put off by the lack of reverence for the source material, but I think that’s a small price to pay when even the show’s most clichéd moments intentionally harken back to the golden age of Hollywood.
That’s why I’d argue that Amazon’s Spider-Noir isn’t really an adaptation, but rather an equally valid take on the same premise that inspired Marvel back in 2009. And in a world filled with recycled storylines that only serve to advertise future releases, I’d rather have two completely different visions of the same character than a straight-up retelling of the same handful of ideas.
At the end of the day, there’s enough space inside this comic fan’s heart for both man-eating Vultures and a Cronenberg-inspired Man-Spider. And if you’re also a fan of nostalgic creature features with comic book flair, I’d highly recommend this street-level superhero story with a spooky twist.
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