The Walking Dead: World Beyond Explained

Showrunner:Matthew Negrete
Starring:
Composer:The Newton Brothers
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:20
Location:Hopewell, Virginia
Camera:Single-camera
Runtime:42–52 minutes
Network:AMC

The Walking Dead: World Beyond is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television limited series created by Scott M. Gimple and Matthew Negrete that premiered on AMC on October 4, 2020. It is a spin-off series to The Walking Dead, which is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, and is the third television series within The Walking Dead franchise. The first season consisted of 10 episodes. The second and final season premiered on October 3, 2021, and also consists of 10 episodes with the final episode aired on December 5, 2021.[1] Matthew Negrete, who previously wrote for The Walking Dead, is the showrunner for the series.

The series received mixed reviews, with critics praising the performances of the cast, but criticizing its pacing.

Premise

The series, set in Nebraska ten years after the zombie apocalypse, features four teenage protagonists and focuses on "the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse as we know it. 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."

The series begins in a college town in Nebraska, which is a reference to the season 2 episode of the original series. The episode, titled "Nebraska", mentions that Nebraska was well-poised to resist the zombie apocalypse because of their low human population density and high level of firearms.[2]

In World Beyond, the "Campus Colony" comes into being when the Nebraska State University campus is declared a safe zone at the beginning of the zombie outbreak.[3] Civilians flee to the campus, which is protected by U.S. military personnel. As the rest of the world descends into chaos, the enclave at Nebraska State University survives and thrives to enable a generation of children to grow up in relative safety.[4] Thus the main characters of World Beyond have lived a very sheltered existence and at the start of the series have rarely left the safety of the campus.[5] It is eventually revealed that Omaha is part of the "Alliance of Three", which is an association of three survivor cities: Portland, Omaha and the Civic Republic. In this confederation, the Campus Colony with about 10,000 residents is viewed as a mere satellite branch of the larger Omaha community, which has about 100,000 inhabitants.[6] [7] [8]

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guest

Episodes

Season 2 (2021)

Production

Development

In July 2018, during San Diego Comic Con, executive producer Scott Gimple announced that a new The Walking Dead spin-off series was in the works.[13] In April 2019, AMC gave a ten-episode order for the series.[14] In July, the series was given the working title of Monument.[15] On November 24, 2019, Gimple revealed the show's title.[16] In January 2020, alongside the series premiere date announcement, AMC confirmed that the series would only consist of two seasons.[17]

Casting

In July 2019, Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, and Hal Cumpston were cast as main undisclosed roles.[18] The same month, Aliyah Royale and Annet Mahendru joined the cast.[19] The following month, Nico Tortorella.[20] Julia Ormond was announced as a cast member in November 2019, playing the role of Elizabeth Kublek, the "charismatic leader of a large, sophisticated and formidable force".[21]

In August 2019, Joe Holt was cast in a recurring role.[22] In November, Natalie Gold, Al Calderon, Scott Adsit and Ted Sutherland were cast as Lyla, Barca, Tony and Percy.

In May 2021, Robert Palmer Watkins joined the cast in recurring role for the second season.[23] For the second season, Joe Holt, Jelani Alladin, Natalie Gold and Ted Sutherland were promoted to series regulars.

Filming

Filming for the series began late July 2019 in Richmond, Virginia and was expected to last until November 2019.[24] Jordan Vogt-Roberts was originally announced to be the director of the pilot episode.[25] Vogt-Roberts was replaced with Magnus Martens, who previously directed for Fear the Walking Dead. The change in directors was a result of the writers mapping out the rest of the season and production had to go in a different direction; Negrete said Vogt-Roberts contributed ideas to the first episode.[26] The series was looking to film a plane crash in the vein of Lost with filming to take place in Hopewell, Virginia during the first two weeks of August.[15]

Release

Broadcast

The series was originally set to premiere on April 12, 2020, on AMC, after the tenth season finale of The Walking Dead.[27] However, in March 2020, AMC announced that the premiere was delayed and would instead debut "later this year".[28] On July 24, 2020, it was announced that the series would premiere on October 4, 2020.[29] The series premiered on October 1, 2020, on AMC+, AMC's premium on-demand service and each episode became available three days before their broadcast premiere.[30] The final season premiered on October 3, 2021 on AMC.[31]

Outside the United States, the series is distributed by Amazon Prime Video and first premiered on October 2, 2020.[32] [33]

Marketing

The first trailer was released at New York Comic Con on October 5, 2019.[34] A second trailer was released November 25.[35]

Home media

The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 15, 2021.[36] The second season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 8, 2022.[37]

Reception

The Walking Dead: World Beyond has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a score of 46% with an average rating of 4.90/10 based on 24 critics. The website's critical consensus reads: "World Beyonds strong performances and new perspective within The Walking Dead universe aren't enough to make it stand out in an increasingly crowded franchise."[38] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 48 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicated "mixed or average reviews".[39]

Daniel D'Addario of Variety gave it a generally positive review and wrote, "This is not a perfect series... And yet there's a willingness to reinvent, to genuinely probe a corner of the universe previously untouched, that makes this series feel serious in its intent and, for fans of the forerunning series, well worth checking out".[40] In a more negative review from Candice Frederick of TV Guide, she graded it two out of five stars and wrote, "World Beyond doesn't offer audiences fresh ideas or even fascinating characters for which to root."[41]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tassi . Paul . AMC Confirms 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' Will Only Run For 20 Total Episodes . . January 17, 2020 . January 20, 2020.
  2. Web site: Bonomolo . Cameron . TWD: World Beyond Setting Ties Into The Walking Dead Season 2 . January 11, 2020 . Comicbook.com . August 11, 2022.
  3. Romano . Nick . The Walking Dead: World Beyond Premiere Recap: New CRM Secrets Unlocked . Entertainment Weekly . October 4, 2020 . August 11, 2022.
  4. Web site: Matthews . Liam . The Walking Dead: World Beyond Finally Has a New Premiere Date . July 24, 2020 . TV Guide . August 11, 2022.
  5. Web site: Nolan . Liam . The Walking Dead: World Beyond Proves How Sinister CRM Really Is . Comic Book Resources . October 4, 2020 . August 11, 2022.
  6. Web site: Kain . Erik . 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' Has One Huge, Glaring Problem . Forbes . October 20, 2020 . August 11, 2022.
  7. Web site: Raymond . Charles Nicholas . TWD: Maggie's Commonwealth Decision Explains World Beyond's Omaha Ending . Screen Rant . March 22, 2022 . August 11, 2022.
  8. Web site: Bojalad . Alec . The Walking Dead: World Beyond Civic Republic and Three Rings Explained . Den of Geek . October 4, 2020 . August 11, 2022.
  9. Major Walking Dead: World Beyond season 2 crossover has big implications for Rick Grimes . Entertainment Weekly . Nick . Romano . September 2, 2021 . September 2, 2021.
  10. News: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond': Max Osinski Joins Season 2 Of AMC Spinoff As Recurring. Petski. Denise. April 8, 2021. Deadline Hollywood. July 13, 2021.
  11. News: Amazon's 'With Love' Adds Andre Royo As Recurring; Gissette Valentin To Recur In 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond'. Del Rosario. Alexandra. June 28, 2021. Deadline Hollywood. July 13, 2021.
  12. News: The Walking Dead: World Beyond season 2 adds Cobra Kai star. McCreesh. Louise. June 29, 2021. Digital Spy. July 13, 2021.
  13. Web site: 'The Walking Dead' Executive Producer Planning Another Spinoff . Comicbook.com . Cameron . Bonomolo . July 21, 2018 . October 13, 2019.
  14. Web site: 'Walking Dead' Spinoff Greenlighted By AMC For 2020 Premiere, Details Revealed . . Dade . Hayes . April 8, 2019 . October 13, 2019.
  15. Web site: Walking Dead Spinoff's Working Title, Major Pilot Episode Details Revealed . Comicbook.com . Brandon . Davis . July 26, 2019 . October 13, 2019.
  16. Web site: Ausiello . Michael . Third Walking Dead Series Gets Title . . November 24, 2019 . November 25, 2019.
  17. Web site: O'Dell . Johnny . The Walking Dead: World Beyond Will Only Last Two Seasons . . January 16, 2020 . January 16, 2020.
  18. Web site: New 'Walking Dead' Series Casts Three Lead Roles (EXCLUSIVE) . . Joe . Otterson . July 10, 2019 . October 13, 2019.
  19. Web site: Third Walking Dead Series Adds Americans' Annet Mahendru to Cast . . July 19, 2019 . Matt Webb . Mitovich . October 13, 2019 . August 6, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190806115612/https://tvline.com/2019/07/19/walking-dead-third-series-annet-mahendru-cast/ . dead .
  20. Web site: 'The Walking Dead' Third Series: Nico Tortorella To Star In New Spinoff On AMC . . Nellie . Andreeva . August 5, 2019 . October 13, 2019.
  21. Web site: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' Casts Julia Ormond . Danielle . Turchiano . November 24, 2019 . November 24, 2019 . Variety.
  22. Web site: 'The Walking Dead' Third Series: Joe Holt To Recur In New Spinoff On AMC . . Denise . Petski . August 14, 2019 . October 16, 2019.
  23. Web site: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond': Robert Palmer Watkins Joins Season 2 Of AMC Spinoff As Recurring. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. May 28, 2021. May 28, 2021.
  24. Web site: The Walking Dead: First Trailer For Third Series Released . Comicbook.com . Russ . Burlingame . July 29, 2019 . October 13, 2019.
  25. Web site: 'The Walking Dead': Full Cast Set for Third Show on AMC . Lesley . Goldberg . July 19, 2019 . July 21, 2019 . The Hollywood Reporter.
  26. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond Boss Says You Don't Have to Be Caught Up on TWD to Watch the Spin-Off . TV Guide . Liam . Matthews . October 1, 2020 . October 2, 2020.
  27. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond Premiere Date Is Set at AMC — Plus, Feast Your Eyes On the Latest Photos . . Charlie . Mason . January 16, 2020 . January 16, 2020.
  28. Web site: Walking Dead Spinoff World Beyond Postponed, New Premiere Date TBD . Dave . Nemetz . . March 20, 2020 . March 20, 2020.
  29. Web site: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' Sets Fall Premiere Date, Shows Off Extended Trailer – Comic-Con@Home . . Patrick . Hipes . July 24, 2020 . July 24, 2020.
  30. Web site: AMC+ to Unveil The Walking Dead & World Beyond Episodes Early! . ComingSoon.net . Greg . Hermanns . September 21, 2020 . September 23, 2020.
  31. Web site: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' Reveals Final-Season Premiere Date And First Look – Comic-Con . Deadline Hollywood . Dominic . Patten . July 23, 2021 . July 23, 2021.
  32. Web site: Walking Dead spin-off World Beyond postpones season weeks before scheduled premiere . Chris . Edwards . Digital Spy . March 20, 2020 . March 20, 2020.
  33. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond . Amazon.co.uk . October 2, 2020.
  34. Web site: The Walking Dead Third AMC Series Debuts First Trailer at NYCC: 'We Are the Endlings' . Terri . Schwartz . October 5, 2019 . October 5, 2019 . IGN.
  35. Web site: The Walking Dead 2020 spin-off finally gets an official title along with a new trailer . Lee . Jesse . . November 25, 2019 . November 25, 2019.
  36. Web site: Flight of the Intruder, Star Trek: Discovery S3, Walking Dead: World Beyond & more, plus Columbia Classics 4K singles . The Digital Bits . Bill . Hunt . April 14, 2021 . May 1, 2021.
  37. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Final Season Blu-ray Review . Blu-ray.com . Randy . Miller III . March 25, 2022 . August 11, 2022.
  38. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Season 1 (2020) . Rotten Tomatoes . July 25, 2021.
  39. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Season 1 . Metacritic . October 9, 2020.
  40. Web site: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' Is an Effective Look at Life After Apocalypse: TV Review . Variety . Daniel . D'Addario . September 21, 2020 . September 30, 2020.
  41. Web site: The Walking Dead: World Beyond Review: Well-Intentioned Spin-off Kinda Makes Us Miss Those Flesh-Eating Zombies . TV Guide . Candice . Frederick . September 21, 2020 . September 30, 2020.

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