Comic-Con: New trailer for The Walking Dead: World Beyond shows a new beginning for zombie franchise

Not even zombies are immune to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s what we learned back in April when just days before it was scheduled to debut, The Walking Dead: World Beyond was pulled from its scheduled debut. AMC had been radio silent on what was happening to the upcoming teen-centric spinoff from their hugely popular post-apocalyptic zombie drama franchise, but that all changed this weekend past during the show’s Comic-Con@Home panel. During the virtual panel, it was revealed that World Beyond will be debuting on Sunday, 4 October 2020.

Created by Scott Gimple, Robert Kirkman (who created the original comics on which all of this is based) and Matt Negrete, The Walking Dead: World Beyond stars Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Annet Mahendru, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston and Nico Tortorella, and is set 10 years after the events of the main series. This is a world in which there’s a new generation of kids who don’t really know another life other than living in these well-protected communities, commemorating the apocalyptic events of the past with new holidays like Monument Day and The Night the Sky Fell. The show will follow four of these kids as they venture out into the wider world for the first time.

Here’s a brand new trailer that was revealed at Comic-Con as well as a new synopsis to show you what’s in store for fans:

The Walking Dead: World Beyond expands the universe of The Walking Dead, delving into a new mythology and story that follows the first generation raised in a surviving civilization of the post-apocalyptic world. Two sisters along with two friends leave a place of safety and comfort to brave dangers, known and unknown, living and undead on an important quest. Pursued by those who wish to protect them and those who wish to harm them, a tale of growing up and transformation unfurls across dangerous terrain, challenging everything they know about the world, themselves and each other. Some will become heroes. Some will become villains. But all of them will find the truths they seek.

So there are a few things to unpack here. Tonally, this looks very different to The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, which could just be the breath of fresh air this franchise requires. While it’s still quite popular, its definitely not the cultural phenom it once was. Many people, like me, had lost interest along the way, so this may be a way back in.

As for the actual story, the community in which these kids live is part of the Civil Republic, a shadowy network of communities which have briefly appeared in both The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Most prominently, the Civil Republic Military (CRM) who seemingly were far more advanced than everybody else at the time – was seen in season 8 kidnapping Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes. His story is supposed to be told in a series of standalone movies that are yet to film. The lady who led the group who kidnapped Rick was Julia Ormond’s Elizabeth, and now we see her popping up to play a big role here in World Beyond.

Gimple has previously indicated that the CRM will be the connective tissue between the three series, but it appears that the Rick Grimes movies and World Beyond will be where we truly learn of this organization.

The new show is tied into it quite a bit, the movie is as well, but it isn’t going to be a driving force throughout all the shows on the universe. We really want to strike some differentiation, and even the movie and the new show are so vastly different and deal with some vast different aspects.

They do kind of show these cool different aspects of this new mythology, but they aren’t tied in it directly. The Walking Dead has such amazing stuff coming up, we don’t want this to be the only story that all of these different shows and movies are telling.

As for The Walking Dead, its tenth season finale was supposed to air back in April but was also delayed due to the global pandemic. That episode will now be broadcast on the same night as World Beyond’s debut with the two shows playing back to back. AMC will continue that double-billing for a while after that as an additional six episodes have now been added to the tenth season, with its new finale set to air in early 2021.

You can check out the full The Walking Dead: World Beyond Comic-Con@Home panel below, where the cast talk about their characters, while the creators give some more hints as to what is in store.

Last Updated: July 27, 2020