The Walking Dead spinoffs, ranked. Which spinoff is the best?

The Walking Dead universe is far from over as AMC continues to provide more apocalyptic stories in the form of spinoff series. By 2024, The Walking Dead will have at least seven spinoffs. The latest spinoff, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, has done a fantastic job of melding the feel of the original series with something fresh and new. If this trend continues, viewers have much to look forward to.

While each spinoff has its own style and tone, some have faired better than others. Below is our ranking of the four spinoffs released so far.

The Walking Dead spinoffs ranked

5. The Walking Dead: World Beyond  – 2 season – limited series

World Beyond is a coming-of-age story that follows a group of teens who have spent the majority of their lives in a post-apocalyptic world protected by the walls of their community. When they set foot outside those walls, a whole new world is opened to them. They must quickly learn how to manage the undead and acclimate to protecting themselves instead of being protected. Not a fan-favorite by any means, World Beyond has its place in TWDU. This series reveals much about the long heard of CRM (Civic Republic Military) and the inner workings of this organization. This series and some of its characters will likely carry into The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff, set to release in 2024. The post-credit scene featured in the series finale episode featured variant walkers that will be seen in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon series.

4. Tales of the Walking Dead – 1 season

The episodic anthology, Tales of the Walking Dead, is a brilliant concept that wasn’t created in the way many fans hoped it would. When first announced, the series was described as stand-alone stories featuring old and new characters. This led viewers to believe they would see familiar faces in one-off episodes. Of the six episodes, only one, “Dee,” featured a character from the main series. This episode was a backstory of Samantha Morton’s Alpha during a time when she was known as Dee. If Tales of TWD didn’t have the words Walking Dead in the title, viewers would have enjoyed these stories featuring new characters in different US locations and stages of the outbreak, with one episode taking place 30 years after. This was a letdown since many hoped to see characters featured in the main series. Overall, it is an excellent stand-alone series.

Earlier in 2023, a new series, More Tales of the Walking Dead, was announced as a short-form series, but nothing else has been revealed about it. Perhaps it is the second season of the series; Undead Walking will keep you updated as more information is released.

3. Fear the Walking Dead  – 8 seasons

If these rankings only included season 7 of Fear the Walking Dead, it would be at the top of the list as the worst series. But the first three seasons were very good, earning it a higher ranking. Fear TWD is a companion series to The Walking Dead, set in the same world. This series began at the start of the outbreak, which is always an interesting stage of an outbreak to feature in movies or shows. As the seasons advance, this series really lost a lot of what made it great. It is unfortunate because this series cast is a diverse blend of talented actors who could have done so much more with these stories, given the chance.

2. The Walking Dead: Dead City – 1 season

Dead City has taken what was great about The Walking Dead and added the amazing cityscape of Manhattan to create a fantastic series. Die-hard fans of TWD love the familiarity while enjoying a fresh new take on the apocalypse. The onscreen chemistry of Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan has taken their characters, Maggie and Negan’s stories to new heights. New communities, new villains, and interesting characters have been added, positively expanding the TWDU. The universe could stand more seasons of this series if creators keep this story moving as it has in the first season. AMC has announced this series has been renewed for a second season.

1. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – 1 season

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon series premiered in September 2023, and fans, even ones who were skeptical about this story, have really enjoyed the latest installment of TWDU. The series has received rave reviews from critics and has been Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Set and filmed in France, Daryl Dixon drastically differs from anything else seen in the franchise. It still holds a somewhat romantic feel, often associated with France, while simultaneously showing the outbreak’s death and destruction. There are several fascinating new characters, and the chemistry between Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Isabelle  (Clémence Poésy) is outstanding. The score and cinematography for this series are breathtaking. AMC has announced a second season will be coming for the Daryl Dixon series.

The Walking Dead universe list of spinoffs in order of release:

• Fear the Walking Dead (2015)
• The Walking Dead: World Beyond (2020)
• Tales of the Walking Dead (2022)
• The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023)
• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (Fall of 2023) 
• The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne (2024)
• More Tales of the Walking Dead (TBA) 

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