Robert Kirkman has an idea for how 'Walking Dead' will end but it's not what you think

It seems like the characters on The Walking Dead just face hardship after hardship, psycho mayor after psycho, without an end in sight. But Robert Kirkman, the creator of the Walking Dead comics, does have an ending in mind for our favorite band of zombie fighters.

His ideal ending is inspired -- or rather, a reaction against -- the classic George Romero zombie movies like Night of the Living Dead, where "They never solve it," Kirkman told Marc Maron in a WTF podcast. "At the end of every movie, they’re like ‘The world is covered in zombies, and we’re out of time, so see ya later!"

Frustrated with such a non-ending, Kirkman said that his ideal ending -- should they ever get to it -- would have a much happier outlook.
“The goal… I hope 'The Walking Dead' goes on long enough that at the end, everyone is like, ‘Good thing we took care of those zombies!'”
But without any clue to the origins of the zombie virus in sight, and Rick becoming more of a mess, that's hard to imagine. Hey, maybe we'll get some answers in the spinoff show, Fear the Walking Dead?

But in all honesty (because Kirkman was semi-joking back there), Walking Dead in general is just about the characters trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel (unlike most Romero movies where it ends in essentially the death of humanity). Kirkman said the point of Walking Dead, other than finding out what happens after "the end" of zombie movies, is about overcoming these insurmountable odds.
“People talk about how 'The Walking Dead' is bleak, and if you take a certain cross-section of the story, then yeah. Horrible. People have their loved ones eaten and they have a horrible time. But I see the story from beginning to end, over many many years about humanity overcoming this insurmountable apocalyptic situation.”