The Walking Dead might have started off as a gritty, small-scale comic adaptation, but over the years it has grown into a sprawling franchise with multiple spinoffs, games, and novels, building a devoted fanbase of millions across the world.
One of the spinoff series is The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which serves as the third installment in the franchise. Based on Robert Kirkman's comic book series, the show was created by Scott M. Gimple and Matthew Negrete. Different from the earlier series, it follows a younger group of survivors and ventures into unexplored areas of the post-apocalyptic world, giving fans a new perspective on the familiar zombie-filled universe.
The cast was made largely of younger actors, highlighting the experiences and challenges of a new generation growing up amid the apocalypse, while also featuring one familiar face from the original series to tie the story into the broader franchise. Although World Beyond didn't receive the most love when it was airing on AMC from 2020 to 2021, the network still let it finish its run.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond was not canceled by AMC
Yes, you read that right. In a TV era where many shows aren't given the opportunity to finish on their own terms, this wasn't the case for World Beyond. AMC did not cancel the zombie series. Although it might seem that way since the show only consists of two seasons, this was the creators' plan all along. World Beyond was always planned as a limited series, with a complete story arc designed to wrap up by the end of its 20-episode two-season run. Negrete revealed this in an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in September 2020.
"So I think for all of us, we feel like we could write these characters forever. But, at the same time, it's nice to be able to approach a series from beginning to end kind of knowing what our ending is going to be and working towards that ending. It's not like, “Oh, we'll see what happens in season 6,” or whatever. We're going to go two seasons. It's going to be 20 episodes total. It's challenging, because there's a lot we need to fit in those 20 episodes. But, at the same time, it's great to approach it knowing what you're working towards."
To sum it up, World Beyond ending after two seasons was intentional, not a failure. It was a planned, self-contained story, unlike the ongoing nature of the other Walking Dead shows such as Fear the Walking Dead, Dead City and Daryl Dixon.
The same goes for The Ones Who Live. That spinoff only has one season, but that's because it was also conceived as a self-contained story, designed to tell a complete narrative without extending into multiple seasons. By the end of its six-episode run, the series had wrapped up its main plotlines and given a satisfying conclusion.
The only two ongoing spinoff series at the moment are Daryl Dixon and Dead City. Daryl Dixon is currently airing its third season, while Dead City recently finished up its second installment in June 2025. Both shows have already been renewed for additional installments. A fourth and final season of Daryl Dixon is confirmed, while a third season of Dead City is currently in the works. Another spinoff series titled More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe is also in development.