The seeds of The Walking Dead movies will be sown in upcoming two-season spin-off World Beyond, which is set to premiere after The Walking Dead season 10 ‘finale’ airs on October 4.
Outside of Andrew Lincoln’s return as Rick Grimes in the trilogy, not much is known about the AMC movies, though Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe (yes, that’s a real title) Scott M. Gimple has revealed that World Beyond will have “deep connections” to the movies in an interview with IGN.
World Beyond is “a peek into the mythology that some of the movie revolves around,” according to Gimple.
“There are aspects of World Beyond that exist in the same universe as the movie. It's just closer to what Rick's story is. You know, Rick Grimes doesn't walk out from around the corner in [World Beyond] and show up, but you learn a lot more about the world that Rick is potentially dealing with. It has deep connections to the movie.”
One major connection may be the mysterious Three Rings group. Confirmed to be the ones who airlifted Rick to safety in The Walking Dead’s ninth season, one of their members showed up on Fear The Walking Dead. A Three Rings leader, played by Julia Ormond, will also be part of World Beyond.
In the mainline Walking Dead series, meanwhile, things have just gotten a whole lot bigger: season 10 has been extended by six episodes, set to air in 2021. But, as is becoming abundantly clear, the road to Rick Grimes’ return is being paved in the spin-offs – starting with World Beyond in October.
