The Walking Dead: 8 theories on what caused the zombie outbreak

HOLLYWOOD, CA – OCTOBER 23: Actor Michael Cudlitz attends AMC presents “Talking Dead Live” for the premiere of “The Walking Dead” at Hollywood Forever on October 23, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for AMC)

Michael Cudlitz’s theory

Former Walking Dead star Michael Cudlitz, who played fan favorite Abraham Ford, is a huge fan of the franchise. In fact, he loves the series so much that he even returned to direct some episodes in season 10. A few years back, during a panel at Dortmund Comic-Con in Germany, he and a few other actors were asked what they thought was the cause of the zombie apocalypse, and we got to hear his idea.

His theory was pretty simple, at least compared to some of the others we’ll look at. He thinks that zombies came about as a result of humanity. It might have been a scientific experiment gone wrong, or it could have been something much more sinister, like biological warfare.

“I think we did it to ourselves,” he said. “I think they were developing something and it went really wrong.”

I like this idea a lot. Meanwhile, his costar Melissa McBride (Carol) went a bit more metatextual. “I think that it’s a television show,” she said. “Somebody says, ‘Cut! That’s a wrap!’ And then you see all these walkers take their faces off, just hug each other and walk away, and it’s just been a television show the whole time.”

I’m a huge fan of Cudlitz’s response to her theory. “So basically Melissa’s saying it will end in cancellation.”