The Walking Dead: World Beyond
The Walking Dead: World Beyond is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama 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. Matthew Negrete, who previously wrote for "The Walking Dead", is the showrunner for the series. Synopsis. 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." Production. Development. In July 2018, during San Diego Comic Con, executive producer Scott Gimple announced  that a new spin-off was in the works. In April 2019, AMC gave a ten-episode order for the series. In July, the series was given the working title of "Monument". On November 24, 2019, Gimple revealed the show's title. In January 2020, alongside the series premiere date announcement, AMC confirmed that the series would only consist of two seasons. Casting. In July 2019, Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, and Hal Cumpston were cast as main undisclosed roles. The same month, Aliyah Royale and Annet Mahendru joined the cast. The following month, Nico Tortorella. 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". In August 2019, Joe Holt was cast in a recurring role. 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. 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. Jordan Vogt-Roberts was originally announced to be the director of the pilot episode. 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. 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 . Release. Broadcast. The series was originally set to premiere on April 12, 2020, on AMC, after the tenth season finale of "The Walking Dead". However, in March 2020, AMC announced that the premiere was delayed and would instead debut "later this year". On July 24, 2020, it was announced that the series would premiere on October 4, 2020. 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. The final season premiered on October 3, 2021 on AMC. Outside the United States, the series  is distributed by Amazon Prime Video and first premiered on October 2, 2020. Marketing. The first trailer was released at New York Comic Con on October 5, 2019. A second trailer was released November 25. Home media. The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 15, 2021. 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 Beyond"s strong performances and new perspective within "The Walking  Dead" universe aren't enough to make it stand out in an increasingly crowded franchise." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 48 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicated "mixed or average reviews." 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". 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."