Fans may not be ready to say goodbye to The Walking Dead once it concludes with a super-sized Season 11, but fortunately, they don’t have to. At least, not entirely. In addition to the two spinoffs already on AMC (Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond), two more TWD offshoots will keep the fictional story going. With that many shows in the works, the series is already giving the numerous Game of Thrones prequels a run for their money.
The Walking Dead proper won’t end until its final, 24-episode season wraps in 2022, so there’s plenty of time to mentally prepare yourselves. In the meantime, here is everything we know about the spinoffs: the untitled Daryl and Carol series and Tales of The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead Spinoff Premiere Dates
Because the new projects were announced in September, it will likely still be quite some time before fans get information on release dates and other specifics. However, AMC has announced a vague timeline for the Daryl and Carol show. The network revealed that this series would premiere in 2023, so there won’t be too unbearable of a break between the ending of The Walking Dead and its successor.
The Walking Dead Spinoff Plots
Daryl and Carol have been through a lot, but their upcoming spinoff will be “a little lighter,” according to Angela Kang, showrunner for both The Walking Dead and the untitled project. “Not in a way that feels frivolous, but I think, like, all of us are looking to have fun in that world,” Kang told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s a roadshow — I hope I can say that — and so I think it will feel distinct. It’s definitely something that Norman and Melissa and I and Scott [Gimple, TWD chief content officer] have all talked about, what we crave tonally.”
She also noted the characters’ deep connection and shared motivations, adding, “I think Daryl, the lone wolf, we’ve always thought, ‘That guy just rides off into the sunset at some point.’ Carol is kind of the same person.” Daryl and Carol’s Season 10 talk of riding away to New Mexico, then, seems like a real possibility.
If anyone can write a fun, character-focused story in the bleak Walking Dead universe, it’s Kang. Not only has she served as showrunner for the past two seasons (an era that Entertainment Weekly described as a “creative renaissance” for the show), but she also co-wrote the rollicking Daryl, Rick, and Jesus episode. “The Next World” expertly blended character development with some much-needed levity.
As for Tales of The Walking Dead, the plot possibilities are enticingly unlimited. AMC simply describes the show as “an episodic anthology with individual episodes or arcs of episodes focused on new or existing characters, backstories or other stand-alone experiences.” This could mean lost characters’ stories reanimate, or we could see glimpses of survivors in different, novel settings. There’s also a chance we find out more about the passerby we’ve seen along the way (hello, backpack guy). Basically, this series looks like the perfect opportunity for Gimple to play around with unconventional ideas in The Walking Dead world.
The Walking Dead Spinoff Casts
Right now, we only know that Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride will be returning, naturally, for their Daryl and Carol series. “Their shared history is long, and each’s own personal fight to survive, even longer,” McBride said in a statement. “But there is also a rather mysterious aspect to their fondness for one another that I enjoy, and their playfulness when the world permits. I’m very curious! Angela has a way of shaking things up in great and unexpected ways. She’s like a kid playing with the dimmer switch! I’m very excited!”
A cast for Tales of the Walking Dead has not been announced. But due to the anthology nature of the show, we should expect a varied assembly of players similar to Black Mirror or Modern Love, as opposed to a strict set of actors playing alongside each other all season.
