If The Walking Dead Spin-Offs Reunite, Isn’t It Just The Walking Dead Again?

Even before its 2022 finale, the world of AMC’s The Walking Dead was expanding. Fear the Walking Dead kicked off the spinoff trend, and shows like Daryl Dixon, World Beyond, Dead City, and Tales of the Walking Dead followed. Now, the most highly anticipated of those shows, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, is set to debut, and with it, the show’s producer has teased something that sounds awfully familiar.

The Ones Who Live, which premieres February 25, brings back original main characters Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira), finally telling a story that has been teased for years. And, at the show’s premiere, executive producer Scott M. Gimple mentioned that he’s aiming toward reuniting those characters with characters in the other spin-offs.

“There are so many things with this universe that I plan and put together, but I also know that God laughs, and you have to pivot to something else,” Gimple told Variety. “I absolutely have been working towards that and hoping towards that, but we’ll see what happens. It might be a version of it that no one expects.”

So Gimple is thinking of bringing Rick, Michonne, and maybe Daryl, Carol, Negan, and Maggie back together on one show? Huh… sounds almost exactly like the show that was on the air for 11 seasons called The Walking Dead. Call me skeptical, call me pessimistic, but doing all these spin-off shows just to once again redo the show you decided to end several years ago seems highly unsatisfying. Because what happens after that? Maybe we give all the characters their own shows again? Exciting!

Now, to be fair, if this reunion was a one-off and kind of tied everything up? Gave us a happy ending? Fine. I get that. But don’t you get the feeling, after a half-dozen spin-off shows, there’s no end in sight?

Honestly, though, this isn’t Gimple’s fault or anything. It’s the nature of this world we live in where everyone seems to want connected, ongoing stories. The problem is, you can’t have connected ongoing stories without bringing in new characters and ideas. If you keep going back to those original characters and ideas—well, it gets real old, real quick.

We’ll see just how, or if, this all plays out. It may never happen. You have to imagine a lot of it will rest on just how many people watch, and like, The Ones Who Live. But, let us know below, are you at all interested in Still Walking Dead?

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Even before its 2022 finale, the world of AMC’s The Walking Dead was expanding. Fear the Walking Dead kicked off the spinoff trend, and shows like Daryl Dixon, World Beyond, Dead City, and Tales of the Walking Dead followed. Now, the most highly anticipated of those shows, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, is set to debut, and with it, the show’s producer has teased something that sounds awfully familiar.

The Ones Who Live, which premieres February 25, brings back original main characters Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira), finally telling a story that has been teased for years. And, at the show’s premiere, executive producer Scott M. Gimple mentioned that he’s aiming toward reuniting those characters with characters in the other spin-offs.

“There are so many things with this universe that I plan and put together, but I also know that God laughs, and you have to pivot to something else,” Gimple told Variety. “I absolutely have been working towards that and hoping towards that, but we’ll see what happens. It might be a version of it that no one expects.”

So Gimple is thinking of bringing Rick, Michonne, and maybe Daryl, Carol, Negan, and Maggie back together on one show? Huh… sounds almost exactly like the show that was on the air for 11 seasons called The Walking Dead. Call me skeptical, call me pessimistic, but doing all these spin-off shows just to once again redo the show you decided to end several years ago seems highly unsatisfying. Because what happens after that? Maybe we give all the characters their own shows again? Exciting!

Now, to be fair, if this reunion was a one-off and kind of tied everything up? Gave us a happy ending? Fine. I get that. But don’t you get the feeling, after a half-dozen spin-off shows, there’s no end in sight?

Honestly, though, this isn’t Gimple’s fault or anything. It’s the nature of this world we live in where everyone seems to want connected, ongoing stories. The problem is, you can’t have connected ongoing stories without bringing in new characters and ideas. If you keep going back to those original characters and ideas—well, it gets real old, real quick.

We’ll see just how, or if, this all plays out. It may never happen. You have to imagine a lot of it will rest on just how many people watch, and like, The Ones Who Live. But, let us know below, are you at all interested in Still Walking Dead?

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.