According to The Hollywood Reporter (via Dread Central ), the first name to be officially attached to the upcoming AMC TV adaptation of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman's epic comic book tale of survival in the time of the Zombie Apocalypse, is...Jon Bernthal. In case you don't know who that is, go see The Ghost Writer if it's still playing near you (if not, hang your head in shame and disgust). Bernthal will play Shane, the best buddy of Rick Grimes, the series' central protagonist.
If you're feeling a bit let down, fret not: I had to Wikipedia who Shane was too. The fact that he's been cast suggests that Kirkman was right in the way he talked about how seriously the comic and the TV show will differ. In the comic, Shane doesn't have much of a role for reasons I won't ruin for the uninitiated.
This is potentially very exciting news because the main problem with Kirkman's comic has always been its myopic focus on Rick. The series' rotating cast is always there and he struggles to give them equal face time but the series has and looks like always will be about Rick's life after zombies rise from their graves. Which can be pretty disappointing considering that the peril of the Zombie Apocalypse has always been not knowing who will become undead next. With a little luck, Shane will have a larger role and the burden of watching Rick try to keep his group of survivors together will be somewhat more alleviated. Very excited to see that casting is underway as the project, after the upcoming TV adaptation of A Game of Thrones, the first book in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series A Song of Fire and Ice, is one of the most anticipated new "quality" shows to head down the pipe.
