Summary
Even though the long-running seriesThe Walking Deadwrapped up in 2022, the franchise has revived plenty of compelling spinoffs. Thanks toAMC’sThe Walking Dead: Dead CityandThe Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, post-apocalyptic fans have still been able to feast on its universe since the popular main series came to an end, and it seems as though the show’s producer, Scott Gimple, envisions its world to be around for a long time to come yet.
The Walking Deadoffers viewers a bleak look inside a world after the fall of humanity due to a devastating zombie outbreak. The series followed Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, as he wakes up from a long coma in what many fans called the best pilot episode ever. On the hunt for his family, Grimes finally finds his wife and son, along with other survivors, and begins the journey of understanding how to navigate his world without succumbing to the virus. Although viewers don’t get to see ifthe virus has spread to other parts of the worldoutside of America inTWD, spinoffs showcased that the entire planet has crumbled too, with North America and Europe both utterly devastated. With so many avenues to go down and so many stories to tell,The Walking Dead’s universe could go on forever, and that’s exactly what its showrunner desires most.
Speaking toCollider, Scott Gimple, who wasThe Walking Dead's writer and producer in season 2 and has since become the franchise’s chief content officer, revealed that he wants its world to keep on producing spinoffs and doesn’t envision it ever coming to an end. “Robert Kirkman, when he initially pitched the comic to Image, it was a zombie movie that would never end," said Gimple. “He would always see it in zombie movies and be like, ‘Wait, what happens after that?’ And it was a brilliant idea.” Gimple goes on to say that Kirkman’s mantra kept with him while he worked on the show and when the comics stopped, Gimple revealed that he felt “bummed out” because he wanted to believe, like Kirkman said, that it would never come to an end. However, Gimple goes on to express that despiteThe Walking Deadcomics finalizing, they are “picking up the torch, and we’re trying to do that.”
Previously, Gimple acknowledged thatThe Walking Deadmay have gone too far when it killed one of the show’s most popular characters. The demise of Steven Yeun’s Glenn was one of the series' worst deaths, so bad in fact that many of The Walking Dead’s most loyal fans decided to opt out of watching any further episodes. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you,” Gimple said in an interview withSalon, adding, “but Robert [Kirkman] hurt me!” Gimple is, of course, referring to Kirkman’s comic in which Glenn died in its pages long before TV Glenn died at Negan’s feet.
Still,The Walking Deadhas a huge fanbase to this day and Gimple seems to acknowledge and understand this. However, he also knows that there is a lot of stiff competition out there now, more so sinceTWDfirst aired in 2010, but he wants to expand on what made it so great to begin with, and that’s itsincredible character development. “It’s hard in a world where there’s a billion TV shows, but yes, the goal is to always haveWalking Deadshows on the air and to have those shows that feature the characters people love and then take those chances and be experimental and do new things with other shows,” he said.
2025 will continue to driveThe Walking Deaduniverseforward with Negan and Maggie inDead Cityseason 2 andDaryl Dixonseason 3.
