The Walking Dead: World Beyond – Matt Negrete on knowing the ending in advance

The Walking Dead: World Beyond showrunner explains how the ending informed the story

Unlike other shows in The Walking Dead Universe, the newest spin-off The Walking Dead: World Beyond came into existence knowing that there would only be two seasons to tell its story. We talked to showrunner Matt Negrete ahead of the season finale about how knowing the ending has helped inform how the greater story has come together.

During our interview, Negrete said that his time as a writer on The Walking Dead helped guide him. “I’d been a writer on The Walking Dead for 6 years, so I know the rhythm of the show. The rules are consistent across all of the shows, but World Beyond was different because we knew the ending. We know how the show will end. We knew Hope was wanted by the CRM for her mind, and we always knew Huck was a double agent. From there, we planted seeds from the start.”

He also noted that they wanted to leave “bread crumbs” for the audience to be able to look back and follow when they watch it again.

If you’ve followed World Beyond from the beginning, it’s possible to see some of those bread crumbs when you think back to the pilot episode. Elizabeth Kublek was very focused on Hope, even when Hope was flipping her off. She was impressed by Hope’s homemade alcohol, and she never faltered when Hope returned every statement with attitude.

Later on, we see that it’s Huck who convinces Felix that they should keep going on their mission to New York. Felix was the one with the close ties to Dr. Bennett and Will, but he wanted to take the girls back. Huck managed to keep them moving closer to New York.

If you start looking back at the season, there are indeed bread crumbs that point to Hope being the asset and Huck being a double agent, which begs the question: What else are we missing?

The Walking Dead: World Beyond will return in 2021.