The Walking Dead might have wrapped up nearly three years ago, but the undead universe is far from finished. According to Scott Gimple, the franchise’s chief content officer, there are plenty of stories still left to tell, and he’s eager to keep that zombie apocalypse alive for years to come.
In a recent conversation with GamesRadar+, Gimple reflected on how Robert Kirkman first envisioned the original comic series.
“What if, at the end of every zombie movie, you were like, ‘what happened next?!’ We want to keep doing that. We want to keep telling the story,” Gimple explained.
“This is all one big story, all of these spin offs, and we want it to continue to evolve. We want to see our classic characters. We want new, big characters that people love. We want to tell stories in different ways. I think there’s nothing but possibility when it comes to The Walking Dead.”
That mindset has fueled an impressive lineup of spin-offs over the last decade. Fear the Walking Dead, World Beyond, Dead City, The Ones Who Live, and Daryl Dixon have all expanded the universe in unique ways.
The Manhattan-set Dead City, following Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), was officially renewed for a third season this past July. Meanwhile, Daryl Dixon is deep into its third season with production already underway on its fourth.
And Gimple’s not slowing down. There’s talk of another series that could reunite fans with Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand), though AMC has yet to confirm it.
If Gimple’s long-term vision holds, the franchise won’t be dying off anytime soon. Earlier this year, he told SFX magazine, “Because the stakes are so high, the choices these characters make define them and change them, one way or another. That’s the stuff of a great story. And the scariness, the action, the emotion, the discovery… That can go on and on.”
Back in April, he even suggested the Walking Dead universe could thrive for another 15 years if it continues to build around “terrific characters.” With that in mind, the zombie apocalypse isn’t ending, it’s just evolving.
