Walking Dead universe: one year ago, we learned of the French variant walkers

On December 5, 2021, The Walking Dead: World Beyond aired the series finale episode. Set as a limited series, World Beyond was an apocalyptic coming-of-age adventure that was ordered for a limited two-season run. Many fans of The Walking Dead weren’t impressed with the series, but the second season has revealed vital information regarding the CRM (Civic Republic Military) and the French variant walkers.

World Beyond tells the story of a group of teenagers who have been sheltered from the outbreak by walls surrounding their community of Campus Colony in Nebraska. They embark on a mission to find the father of two of their members, believing him to be in harm’s way. The first season sets up the characters and shows the group as they acclimate to life outside the walls.

In the second season, it is revealed that the CRM has destroyed the Campus Colony of approx 10,000 residents and the community of Omaha, which inhabited 100,000 citizens. The teens get separated, but eventually, all show up at or in the vicinity of a CRM facility that conducts testing on humans and the undead.

The Walking Dead World Beyond variant walkers

Besides the information on the CRM, the most significant thing to come from this series is information from a coda scene that you can watch below.

This scene brings back a familiar face, Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich), from season 1 of The Walking Dead. He was the last scientist at the CDC who told Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) the vital information that everyone is infected.

In viewing this scene, a whole new world opens up. It is doubtful that the French variant is the same as the variants seen in The Walking Dead’s early and final season. But those could be the results of the CRM testing in the United States.

The French variant, however, will turn up in a spinoff series, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, that will see the titular character find himself in France against his will.

In an interview, chief content officer for TWD, Scott M. Gimple, had this to say about the variants seen in the code of World Beyond. 

"The differences he’s talking about, the iterations he’s talking about, whatever, there’s something going on, and we’re going to see more of it. Is it a total redoing of everything we’re doing? No, it is not. And it’s specific to a story we’re telling in a place we’re telling it. Who knows after that, but right now we’re telling a story about things going on in a very specific place."

So, if you haven’t already, now is a great time to catch up on The Walking Dead: World Beyond to discover more about the CRM, which we know to be the group that captured Rick.

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