The Walking Dead (franchise)

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

Sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma in a post-apocalyptic world where the undead, known as walkers, have taken over. Rick must fight for his survival to protect his family and friends. While the walkers are their number one threat, other humans also create conflict. With the collapse of modern civilization, these survivors must confront other survivors who have formed groups and communities with their own laws and morals, sometimes leading to open, hostile conflict between them.

Fear the Walking Dead (2015–2023)

Fear the Walking Dead is a companion series to The Walking Dead, developed by AMC. AMC started development of the series around September 2013 and committed to a two-season broadcast by March 2015.^[39][40][41] Fear the Walking Dead first premiered on August 23, 2015.^[42] The series ended on November 19, 2023 after the conclusion of the eighth and final season.^[43]

Fear the Walking Dead features a different set of characters, developed by Kirkman. The series starts at the onset of the zombie apocalypse and follows several people who escape Los Angeles as the military attempts to quarantine the city and seek refuge along the west coast of the United States and Mexico. The fourth season of Fear the Walking Dead features a crossover with The Walking Dead, specifically through the character Morgan Jones (played by Lennie James) who joins the cast of Fear the Walking Dead after the events of the eighth season of The Walking Dead.^[44][45] Similarly, Dwight, played by Austin Amelio, joined Fear the Walking Dead for its fifth season in 2019.^[46]

World Beyond (2020–2021)

In April 2019, AMC officially announced it had ordered a 10-episode limited series created by Scott M. Gimple and Matthew Negrete. The series focuses on the first generation of children that have grown up during the zombie apocalypse who call themselves "Endlings",^[47] and are aware of how to survive if confronted by zombies, but have otherwise been raised behind walls and have never actually experienced survival.^[48] Production began in July 2019 in Richmond, Virginia, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts originally attached to direct the pilot before Magnus Martens took over on account of a new series direction.^[49][50] The series stars Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Annet Mahendru, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston, Nico Tortorella and Julia Ormond.^[51] The series premiered on October 4, 2020, and ended on December 5, 2021, after two seasons.^[52][53][54]

Tales of the Walking Dead (2022)

In October 2021, AMC officially greenlit a six-episode series, which premiered on August 14, 2022, and ended on September 18, 2022. Channing Powell, who wrote for both The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, served as showrunner. It is an episodic anthology series that features new and existing characters within The Walking Dead universe.^[55]

Dead City (2023–present)

In March 2022, AMC officially greenlit Isle of the Dead, starring Cohan and Morgan as their characters Maggie and Negan, respectively. They are also executive producing with Eli Jorné, who is serving as showrunner. The series is set in Manhattan. In August 2022, the series was retitled as The Walking Dead: Dead City.^[56] The series premiered on June 18, 2023.^[57] In July 2023, it was renewed for a second season.^[58]

Daryl Dixon (2023–present)

A spinoff series created by Angela Kang and Scott M. Gimple to star Reedus and McBride as their characters Daryl and Carol, respectively, was also announced in September 2020, with plans to air in 2023 after the conclusion of the eleventh season of the main show.^[59] In April 2022, the project was retooled to be entirely Daryl-focused, and McBride departed the project. The series is set and was to be filmed in Europe in mid-2022, which would have made it logistically untenable for McBride.^[60] David Zabel serves as showrunner, who replaces Kang.^[61] In October 2022, the series' title was revealed to be Daryl Dixon.^[62] The series premiered on September 10, 2023.^[63] In July 2023, it was renewed for a second season, with McBride joining as a series regular.^[58] In July 2024, it was renewed for a third season.^[64]

The Ones Who Live (2024)

Following the departure of Andrew Lincoln (who portrayed the main character of Rick Grimes) during the ninth season of The Walking Dead, chief content officer Scott Gimple stated that three AMC original films would explore events related to Rick's character in the future. Lincoln was expected to star in the films, and the first was set to begin production in 2019. Besides Lincoln, Danai Gurira (Michonne) and Pollyanna McIntosh (Jadis / Anne) were also slated to star in the films. Gimple stated that the three films would not simply be extended episodes or attempts to adapt any of the comic books, but would instead heavily involve Kirkman in their development.^[63][65][66] The films were slated to be released in theaters by Universal Pictures.^[67]

At the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that the three films were being reworked into a six-episode miniseries starring Lincoln and Gurira. The series concluded Rick and Michonne's storyline following the main series' conclusion.^[68] It took place after the events of the fifth episode of the ninth season ("What Comes After") and the thirteenth episode of the tenth season ("What We Become"), and presents an "epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world."^[69] Filming began in January 2023. Gurira confirmed that she would be a writer on the series and would be credited as a co-creator alongside Gimple.^[70] The six-episode series premiered on February 25, 2024.^[71]

More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe

The development of a series entitled More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe was announced in April 2023.^[28]

Ratings

Critical response

Video games

• The Walking Dead: From Telltale Games, a series of games which are set within the comic book universe originally released between 2012 and 2019. The episodic graphic adventure games centre around the original characters of Clementine and Lee Everett, voiced by Melissa Hutchison and Dave Fennoy respectively. A spin-off game, The Walking Dead: Michonne, centering on the comic book character of the same name, was released in 2016.^[189]
• The Walking Dead: Assault: A tactics game developed by Gamagio. It was released on iOS in 2012 and Android in 2013, but is no longer available.
• The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct: A first-person shooter which serves as a prequel to the main television series, featuring the characters of Daryl Dixon and Merle Dixon.^[190] Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker reprise their roles to provide the character likeness and voices.^[191] The game was released on March 19, 2013, in North America.^[192]
• The Walking Dead: Our World: A location-based mobile game developed by Next Games.^[193]
• The Escapists: The Walking Dead: A spin-off from The Escapists, a strategy video game about escaping prisons.^[194]
• Overkill's The Walking Dead: A first-person shooter emphasizing cooperative gameplay, the game follows four characters in post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. and features stealth, survival horror and role-playing elements.^[195] The game was released in November 2018 for PC, with scheduled console ports being cancelled shortly after.^[196]
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners: A virtual reality game developed by Skybound Entertainment. It was released on January 23, 2020.^[197]
• The Walking Dead: Onslaught: A VR game for AMC's The Walking Dead.^[198]
• The Walking Dead: Last Mile: A live, interactive, online experience and game on Facebook Instant Gaming. It was released on August 22, 2022.^[199]
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution: A sequel to The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and features a continuation of that game's story along with new mechanics and weapons. The game was released for Meta Quest 2 in December 2022 and for PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2, and PC in early 2023.^[200][201]
• The Walking Dead: All-Stars: A mobile idle survival role-playing video game available both on Android and iOS.^[202] It was released globally on August 31, 2022.^[202] It features a vast array of characters and skills, as well as idle battle and collection systems.^[202] In this game, players must strategically recruit survivors and collect resources through a variety of story-driven modes and in-game events to build and evolve their own sanctuary while fighting against zombies to survive.^[203]
• The Walking Dead: Destinies: A third-person, narrative-driven action-adventure game in which the player can reshape the story of the first four seasons of the main series through their actions. Playing as a variety of characters, the player makes their way through locations from the show until they encounter certain key choice moments that can determine who lives and who dies, with those choices potentially differing from how things played out on the show. Developed by GameMill Entertainment for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch, the game was released on November 17, 2023.^[204]

Role-playing game

• The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game: The official tabletop role-playing game published by Free League Publishing. The rules are based on the Year Zero Engine.^[205]

Novels

Novels for The Walking Dead set within the comic book universe.

• Kirkman, Robert; Bonansinga, Jay (October 11, 2011). The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.
• Kirkman, Robert; Bonansinga, Jay (October 16, 2012). The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury.
• Kirkman, Robert; Bonansinga, Jay (December 4, 2012). A Walking Dead Short: Just Another Day at the Office.
• Kirkman, Robert; Bonansinga, Jay (October 8, 2013). The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor: Part One.
• Bonansinga, Jay (March 4, 2014). The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor: Part Two.
• Bonansinga, Jay (October 14, 2014). Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Descent.
• Bonansinga, Jay (October 6, 2015). Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Invasion.
• Bonansinga, Jay (October 18, 2016). Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Search and Destroy.
• Bonansinga, Jay (October 17, 2017). Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Return to Woodbury.
• Chu, Wesley (October 1, 2019). Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Typhoon.

Miscellaneous

• McFarlane Toys manufactured action figures resembling the characters in the comic book for September 2011 release. In addition, action figures resembling characters from the TV series, including Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, and a dismemberable "walker", were set for release in November 2011.^[206]
• Taverncraft has produced The Walking Dead pint glasses and steins, and has a license to release lighters for the series as well.^[207]
• Titan Magazines has published The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine since October 2012.^[208]
• Two pinball tables based on the series were released: a physical table developed by Stern Pinball^[209] and a virtual one developed and published by Zen Studios, based on Telltale Games' The Walking Dead: Season One.^{[210][211][212]}

Attractions

• The Walking Dead: The Ride: Located in Thorpe Park, Thorpe, United Kingdom, The Ride is a re-design of a previously standing ride. Opened as The Walking Dead: The Ride in March 2018, as part of the "Year of The Walking Dead".^{[citation needed]}