The Walking Dead ending in 2022 doesn’t mean the TWD universe as a whole is ending. For starters, AMC has commissioned two brand new spinoffs to follow it. There’s the much-discussed vehicle for Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride, centring on Daryl and Carol, but there’s also an anthology series titled Tales of the Walking Dead, which will focus on different characters, periods and settings every week.
In fact, the remit for Tales is even broader than we first realized. On Sunday’s Walking Dead Universe Preview Special, host Chris Hardwick read out an exciting statement from TWD chief content officer Scott M. Gimple. In it, the EP promises that the show will go in “all sorts of directions.” It seems like nothing is being taken off the table, as Gimple even teases that animated episodes or musicals are possible.
“We’ve been playing with the Tales of format for nearly three years now, and tweaking it in all sorts of directions. It’s been an incredibly fun challenge,” begins a statement from Gimple. “Yes, there’s going to be stories told with old favorites, there are also going to be stories told with brand new characters. These stories are from all over the Walking Dead timeline, and all over the Walking Dead Universe… We may be doing different formats and possibly utilizing animation, music, different mediums. We want to surprise people every week with what they will be getting.”
The TWD universe is already pretty huge, but Tales will really blow the lid off the scope of the franchise and allow us to fully explore the post-apocalyptic world better than ever before. Plus, we’ll also get to catch up with some “old favorites.” No returning guest stars have been announced as yet, but Michael Cudlitz seems a cert as Abraham, given some comments he’s made. Jon Bernthal may also be coming back, and maybe this is the place where Heath’s disappearance will finally be explained, too.
The concept of Walking Dead animations sounds epic, and while a musical could be a little tacky if handled poorly, it could also be a lot of fun. But that’s still a few years away yet.
Back in the present, we’ve got 31 episodes left to go of the parent series, beginning with the season 10 finale “A Certain Doom,” which finally lands on AMC this Sunday, October 4th.