'Being Human' Star Talks Canceled 'Walking Dead' Web Series, Darabont's Firing

There are many reasons why it sucks that Frank Darabont is no longer part of "The Walking Dead," and actor Sam Witwer — star of the American version of "Being Human" as well as the voice and likeness of Starkiller in the "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" video games — has added another reason to the list.

Witwer previously appeared in "The Walking Dead" in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo as the zombie soldier Rick encounters in the tank at the end of the pilot episode. (Check out the image above if you don't believe us!) A pretty small role for a relatively known guy, wouldn't you say? Well, according to Witwer, it wouldn't have been such a small role if Darabont had had his way.

In a new interview with Paranormal Pop Culture, Witwer revealed that Darabont had planned to create a "Walking Dead" web series built around his tank zombie's life and death in Atlanta during the apocalyptic outbreak.

"He said to me, 'Look, I think it would be really cool to tell a prequel story about how Atlanta fell, do 'Black Hawk Down,' but with zombies, have a few main characters pass through, but the lead will be you," recalled Witwer. "'You're a soldier and all these horrible things happen, and the chain of command breaks down, and, eventually, you have to take out your superior officer. Then, eventually, in the end, you get bit.' He's pitching me this. 'You're crawling and you crawl into this tank and you have a grenade and you're going to blow yourself up, but you set the grenade next to you and you die. Then, we reprise the scene from the pilot, where Rick gets in the tank and there's a zombie there.'

Witwer said that he played the tank zombie in the "Walking Dead" pilot specifically because Darabont had this idea for the web series in mind. Of course, the story never played out, all because of dollar signs, according to Witwer.

"It's not happening now. Why? Because AMC wanted to save a few bucks," said the actor. "That is just one example of the kind of cool, awesome forethought, this guy has put into this show, that is now absolutely written off. For me, it doesn't matter much because I'm busy doing 'Being Human.' We were going to schedule things around. I'm not lamenting the loss of a job, I'm lamenting the loss of an amazing idea. And there are dozens and dozens of amazing ideas just like that, which are now gone. And it's all because people wanted to save money."

Witwer goes on at length about his dissatisfaction with Darabont's departure and the way that the "Walking Dead" creator was released by AMC. Check out everything he has to say in the PPC piece. Big thanks to Comic Book Movie for pointing this out.

What do you think of the defunct "Walking Dead" spinoff? Are you as upset as Witwer is over Darabont's removal from the series? Tell us in the comments section and on Twitter!