The Walking Dead is about to launch a major crossover storyline that’s been bubbling up for a while now. Over both TWD and Fear the Walking Dead, our heroes have come across people involved with a mysterious organization known as the CRM – most notably, they’re responsible for kidnapping Rick Grimes, with Jadis revealed to be working for them. Naturally, we’ll find out more about them in the Andrew Lincoln movies, then. What’s more, Walking Dead: World Beyond will feature the group in a big way, too.
But what do we know about the CRM at the moment? Well, thanks to promotional material for World Beyond, we actually know a fair amount. For one, their full title is the Civic Republic Military. This hasn’t been said aloud on screen so far, but was glimpsed on a document marked with their recognizable logo – three interconnected rings – in an episode of Fear. TWD chief creative officer Scott M. Gimple has confirmed that the logo refers to the three communities that make up the CRM and from the World Beyond trailers, we can deduce that one’s located in Nebraska and another in New York.
The third community may be based in Philadelphia, as hinted at in the first trailer for the Lincoln movies, which featured an animation of Rick’s helicopter flying towards the Philly skyline. It’s been reported that this base may be dedicated to finding a cure to the zombie virus. This would make sense with the enormous resources they’ve been depicted as having across the various series. Enough to be kidnapping folks from all over with their “A/B” human trafficking system.
One theory also suggests that the CRM is what’s left of the U.S. government, intent on creating order in this post-apocalyptic world. This would explain their considerable influence and the kidnapping – they’re trying to find intelligent people or leaders to join them. This is just speculation right now, but it does add up with what we know.
In any case, World Beyond is arriving sometime this year, so it shouldn’t be long until we find out more about the CRM and the most ambitious storyline in The Walking Dead to date unfolds.