The iZombie comic book/graphic novel series by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred was quickly a fan favorite, with the main characters of the series being perfectly suited, quirky supernatural beings who’d be great for appearing in their own TV show.
Rob Thomas’ production shingle is adapting iZombie for The CW for a hopeful spot on the network’s 2014-2015 schedule, and already the premise of the lead character working at a coroner’s office rather than as a gravedigger is a bit of a departure. What about 1960’s dead best friend, the ghostly Ellie? Where’s Scott, the were-terrier? Or even someone like Gavin who is [spoiler deleted?] Yes, some of those concepts might be a bit far fetched, but who wouldn’t want to see those folks hanging out in a diner?
Unfortunately, it looks like Gwen might have a totally new supporting cast for the iZombie pilot that will be shooting this Spring. Casting breakdowns for the “Gwen Dylan” character are nowhere to be seen, with the lead instead being called “Liv;” hopefully that is just a placeholder to try to throw people off the trail from what’s really going on.
But other character names being cast now: Blaine, Clive, Eva, Evan, Liv, Major, Peyton, and Ravi…
…there’s no Scott, Ellie, even a Patel in sight.
With Rob Thomas’ Veronica Mars pedigree, high hopes are supporting this project. But, unless these character names are just placeholders, fans of the original source material might leave this one disappointed. Making a mark can be good, and maybe it could be argued that a gravedigger or a “were-terrier” wouldn’t work out on a weekly TV series, but sometimes, as Arrow has shown us, sticking near and dear to the original material can often be rewarding. Here’s hoping there are some good surprises in store, and that we will hear that the characters we love are indeed around, just hiding under code names for casting… and as soon as we hear some [hopeful] good news, you can bet we’ll be posting it here.
