When The Walking Dead debuted back in 2010, we never could have guessed the expansive universe that was about to open up. In the near-decade the show’s been on the air, numerous spinoffs have followed –– and AMC shows no signs of slowing down.
First, there was Talking Dead with Chris Hardwick, a live TV after-show for fans who want an inside look at the show’s production. Then we got Fear The Walking Dead, a companion show with occasional cross-overs, and the promise of a Rick Grimes-focused Walking Dead movie trilogy. Today, AMC announced a third TV spinoff: a scripted series featuring two young female protagonists growing up in the ongoing chaos of the zombie apocalypse. Honestly, I was hooked at “young female protagonists” (who doesn’t love a good female-driven reboot?), but here’s what we know about the series.
According to AMC, this new spinoff will “focus on the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse as we know it.” The series was dreamed up by co-creators Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead universe, and Matt Negrete, longtime TWD writer and producer. Both seem equally passionate about the project: Gimple calls it a celebration of “a ‘Decade of the Dead’ on TV,” and hints at “new mythology” and “an unseen pocket of The Walking Dead universe” that he’s excited to reveal through this series. Negrete, who will act as showrunner on the upcoming series, calls his previous work for TWD “the job of a lifetime,” and adds that he “can’t wait for the fans of the franchise to see what we’ve been cooking up!”
So, will this show have any overlap with the original Walking Dead? It remains to be seen. There are no current mentions of existing characters who might appear on the series, and the spinoff’s creators seem to be emphasizing that this is a new aspect of the Walking Dead universe as much as possible. David Madden, AMC’s head of programming, expressed his excitement that the Dead universe “will keep walking into a new corner of the post-apocalyptic world,” adding that this particular corner “will present stories and characters unlike any that The Walking Dead has dramatized thus far.”
Hopefully, the show’s creators will release more information in coming months: a 10-episode season is scheduled to premiere 2020, with production starting this summer. While the series may not exactly feature your OG favorites, there’s a reason this show’s been on the air for nearly a decade, and it has everything to do with the insane universe they’ve created. Personally, I’m very excited to take a peek into the future of this apocalyptic world, where zombies are just another challenge teenage girls are expected to face. Discussing the show’s protagonists, Gimple says this: “Some will become heroes. Some will become villains. In the end, all of them will be changed forever. Grown-up and cemented in their identities, both good and bad.” I’d watch that show about two female protagonists even if zombies weren’t involved— I can’t imagine how fun it will be when they are.
Leave a Comment