Billy Oduory on the future of The Walking Dead Universe…
With its spinoffs introducing new characters and a global perspective with no end in sight The Walking Dead has become the undying TV franchise set in a dead world. Dead City, Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live have seen the reinvention of the franchise after the flagship series concluded, with captivating storylines that are bound to keep the story of the nearly two-decade-old saga going for a couple more years at the very least. Despite fears of franchise fatigue, TWD spinoffs continue to enjoy widespread popularity, but the creators have to come up with a smart way to put it to bed before it overstays its welcome.
According to Scott Gimple, the franchise chief, there is the possibility of crossovers between the different spinoffs in the future. Gimple told ScreenRant that he is working on a plan to merge all the spinoffs at some point and that he has been putting “breadcrumbs” towards the possibility of a unified ending for the series throughout the spinoffs. His comments support several fan theories including one where all the protagonists unite around the Rick against the CRM in a showdown of global proportions.
Many fans also hoped that at least one of the spinoffs (specifically Daryl Dixon) would focus on the root cause of the outbreak and finding a cure, but all the spinoffs seem to be uniformly focused on securing global peace for now. Dead City is the only outlier as far as timelines are concerned since it is set nearly six years after the end of the flagship series. The Ones Who Live and Daryl Dixon, on the other hand, exist within the same timeline, meaning Daryl’s war with Madame Genet could still end up on US soil. With Rick focused on taking down the seemingly all-powerful CRM from within in The Ones Who Live, a guerrilla war is pretty much underway in The Walking Dead universe, so let’s look at how it could all end.
How are all The Walking Dead Spinoffs connected?
Fear the Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead was the franchise’s first series whose first three seasons didn’t seem to have any connection to the main series. The series follows Maddison, a former LA resident, and her family as they try to survive from the very beginning of the outbreak. However, Morgan from the main series joins the FTWD group of survivors in Texas, marking an alignment of timelines between the spinoff and the main series. There are no more crossovers between FTWD and the flagship series until the final episode in season 8 when Morgan and his daughter set out to find Rick. The ending means that Morgan could be the next fan-favorite character to join Rick in the battle against the CRM.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond
The Walking Dead: World Beyond then became the second spinoff which gave the clearest clue that Rick Grimes was alive and also gave fans a glimpse of the dreaded CRM. World Beyond painted a clear picture of how despicable the CRM is and how their global reach could mean that no one is really safe from them. The two-season-long spinoff wasn’t a commercial success, but it still played a big role in setting up both Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live. It is through World Beyond that fans learn about the origin of the outbreak in the botched science experiment in the French laboratory, something fans hope to see expounded upon in the upcoming second season of Daryl Dixon.
The Walking Dead: Dead City
The Walking Dead: Dead City was the first spinoff released after the conclusion of the flagship series, set about five or six years after the finale of The Walking Dead Season 11. The series focuses on Maggie and Negan’s struggle to save Maggie’s now-teenage-son Hershel from a former Negan follower in Manhattan. The spinoff later reveals another organized military group known as the New Babylon Federation, which, like the CRM, uses the pretence of restoring civilization to oppress innocent people and take control of vital resources.
Despite the time jump, there is still a strong likelihood of Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and The Ones Who Live merging at some point, but there will have to be a significant time jump in Daryl and Rick/Michonne’s stories to catch up with the Manhattan-based saga. With Negan seemingly gaining control of another army, and Maggie rallying the new version of Hilltop to fight for humanity once more, the protagonists won’t be short of soldiers when the battle eventually comes.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Daryl Dixon is a fan-favorite zombie-killer, who, despite not being in the comics, has become one of the most important characters in the Walking Dead universe. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon follows the crossbow-wielding biker as he follows his clues to France in a bid to save the world. His adventures land him in the hands of another evil paramilitary group led by the psychopathic Madame Genet who has turned into a dictator ruling over all of France.
Daryl also meets a whole new family in France including a seemingly immune boy called Laurent to whom he becomes a father and even decides to stay in France a little while longer for his new family’s sake. Madame Genet’s military group has a lot in common with the CRM, including performing twisted scientific experiments on humans to create an army of mutated Walkers. Genet is also revealed to have powerful allies across the sea, (most likely the CRM) who are her benefactors and who call most of the shots in her operation.
The Ones Who Live
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is the series that brought the long-awaited reunion between Rick Grimes and Michonne, which has revived fan interest in the franchise. The spinoff’s first season is only six episodes long, but it reveals a lot about what happened to Rick after he was traded to the CRM by Jadis. Despite being primarily a story of Rick and Michonne’s romantic reunion against all odds, The Ones Who Live is also expected to usher in the possible conclusion of The Walking Dead saga.
Despite Michonne’s opposition, Rick insists on destroying the powerful CRM from within, having risen through the ranks to become a helicopter pilot after years of suffering as he unsuccessfully tried to escape and eventually made big sacrifices to join the CRM and try taking it down from within. The change in location of Hilltop revealed in Dead City is the clearest clue that Rick and Michonne probably don’t make it back to Alexandria any time soon, meaning the battle against the CRM will take a few more years. The good news is that Judith and RJ are safe, judging by the ferocious secrecy with which Maggie guards the new location of Hilltop in Dead City, from where we believe a new Alexandria is not far away.
Following the revelation of the CRM’s powerful global reach, Rick is right in believing that nowhere is safe unless the CRM is defeated or cleaned up from within. We, therefore, believe that The Ones Who Live will set up a final showdown between the resistance in the different spinoffs and the global dictatorship we currently know by different names including CRM and The New Babylon Federation.
Will The Walking Dead Spinoffs merge?
Despite promising crossovers between the spinoffs, Scott Gimple expressed concerns about the possibility of reuniting the different characters who are now featured in different spinoffs. The creators have reduced the quantity of episodes per season in the spinoffs, and also reduced the number of TWD spinoffs running concurrently, focusing more on quality. The new schedule means that most stars move on to other projects making crossovers difficult to schedule.
The spinoffs happening in different timelines also make the possibility of crossovers harder. We, therefore believe that Rick and Daryl won’t be reuniting with Negan and Maggie any time soon. However, Daryl and Rick could still meet because the nature of the threats they are fighting is more similar and their spinoffs are set in the same timeline.
Morgan’s story is also not concluded as seen in the cliffhanger ending of FTWD, and we believe he will eventually meet Rick because the eighth season of the spinoff happens in the same timeline as The Ones Who Live and Daryl Dixon. Morgan’s resolve, not to kill even the worst of his enemies, could play a big role in Rick’s redemption as he takes on the CRM. However, a merging of all the spinoffs seems unlikely, especially because it would undermine the reason why the creators split the franchise in the first place.
How will The Walking Dead Universe end?
The end of TWD Universe is probably the most well-kept secret at AMC, and while none of the spinoffs have pointed at a conclusion of the saga, Scott Gimple said in his interview that the creators have one in sight. However, considering the discrepancy in locations and timelines between the spinoffs, it is clear that it will take a lot of time and clever writing to bring all the storylines in the franchise to one conclusion. TWD fans can therefore expect a few more years and spinoffs in the franchise before a conclusion comes, if it ever does.
Typically, the perfect end to the series would see all the protagonists back in Alexandria and Hilltop with their loved ones. Fans would also love to see Rick and Michonne playing dad and Mum to Judith and RJ, in a normal world, even for a minute. However, as seen in the flashbacks of The Ones Who Live, that happy ending is almost impossible. If the current state of the world as seen in Dead City is anything to go by, it is smarter to conclude that living day by day in a zombie-infested world overrun by evil people is the new normal.
Meanwhile, fans have come up with multiple theories on Reddit about how The Walking Dead Universe will end, with some fans just suggesting that the franchise will only end when it stops being profitable. The most popular thread on the messaging platform, however, agrees that the creators could seek to align the franchise’s conclusion with the comics.
In the comics, the outbreak drags on for decades as walkers continue to decay and eventually die off, but a cure is never found. Instead, a whole new generation of survivors learns to exist in the new world, with some people living for decades without ever seeing a walker. Unfortunately, the fear of turning into a walker when one dies never goes away. It is not clear whether the TV shows will adopt this conclusion, but it would be satisfactory for most fans.
Billy Oduory
