'The Walking Dead' Is Coming to an End, but Its Spinoffs Will Keep It Alive

It's the end of an era. The Walking Dead, which premiered its first episodes in 2010, is set to end in 2022. The show was a massive phenomenon when it first debuted, and although it has declined some in ratings in recent years, it's still a great TV success story. That success has been so massive that the show spawned several spinoffs, which will continue after the parent show ends. 

There is only one spinoff currently airing. The show is called Fear the Walking Dead, and has already aired five seasons. It was initially set in the early days of the zombie outbreak that transforms the Walking Dead universe, and has since run roughly in parallel with the story of The Walking Dead. The two shows have also traded off characters, including Lennie James' Morgan. 

In addition to Fear the Walking Dead, the creators of The Walking Dead are also planning additional spinoffs that have yet to be released. The first is The Walking Dead: The World Beyond, which is a YA story that is set to take place over two seasons. The show will follow a group of teenagers who are living through the apocalypse, and are eventually inspired to leave their shelter in order to travel across the country in search of their father. 

The World Beyond is set to premiere on Oct. 4, 2020, and will be the second spinoff of The Walking Dead when it begins airing. On top of that, a spinoff show focused on Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus's characters from The Walking Dead has already been given a straight-to-series order. The show is scheduled to launch in 2023, and does not yet have a title. 

In addition to those three spinoffs, Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple is also working on a series called Tales of the Walking Dead. If the show goes forward, it will be an anthology series that tells a variety of different isolated stories all set in the world of The Walking Dead. 

The show will feature a combination of new and pre-existing characters, and may include backstories or other standalone stories. These four potential spinoffs are in addition to a trilogy of films featuring Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes that are also in the works at Universal Pictures.  

Although the original show is gone, its universe is very much alive. "It's been 10 years 'gone bye'; what lies ahead are two more to come and stories and stories to tell beyond that," Scott said when the show's end was announced. "What’s clear is that this show has been about the living, made by a passionate cast, team of writer-producers, producers and crew, bringing to life the vision put forth by Robert Kirkman in his brilliant comic — and supported by the best fans in the world." 

"We have a lot of thrilling story left to tell on TWD, and then, this end will be a beginning of more Walking Dead — brand new stories and characters, familiar faces and places, new voices and new mythologies," Scott continued. "This will be a grand finale that will lead to new premieres. Evolution is upon us. The Walking Dead lives."