The Walking Dead is one of the biggest shows on television, and AMC will probably keep it going for as long as possible. There are still plenty of stories in the comic source material that haven't yet been explored, and the series has already proved that it's not afraid to deviate from published plots. One very different direction for the show would be if the characters went to explore different parts of the zombie apocalypse. Rick and Co. have spent most of their time either in Georgia or in Virginia. Showrunner Scott Gimple recently appeared at a San Diego Comic-Con panel, and he said this when asked if the show could go to some new places:
I would say it is entirely possible that it could happen. I'm gonna continue to give you a long and ambiguous answer on that. [laughs] But I will say it's something that we wanna see. Look for Walking Dead: Serengeti. Walking Dead: Death Valley. Walking Dead: Inside a Volcano.
Scott Gimple was obviously kidding when he pitched the new Walking Dead titles -- although I would totally tune in for an Inside a Volcano spinoff -- but he seemed quite genuine in revealing that The Walking Dead visiting a new locale could happen. We already know that the zombie apocalypse was a global phenomenon, and Fear the Walking Dead has made it clear that there are interesting stories to tell just about everywhere. We probably won't get Madison and Co. traveling to Alexandria or Rick and his crew heading toward Mexico to provide a crossover between the two series, but why not let some of the Walking Dead crew explore some new places?
The Walking Dead cast chimed in at the panel to pitch new places for the show to explore, and the consensus seemed to be that they'd love to film somewhere colder than Georgia. Frankly, it's hard to blame them. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has revealed that wearing his leather jacket as Negan in 120-degree heat is definitely not fun, and who can forget the look of utter defeat on Andrew Lincoln's face when Norman Reedus pulled a glitter prank on him on in the summer heat? The actors might be more inclined toward The Walking Dead: Alaskan Wilderness or Igloo Adventure than Death Valley or Inside a Volcano.
We'll have to wait and discover for ourselves if The Walking Dead does ever take the characters anywhere else. As of the Season 7 finale, they seemed pretty determined to dig their heels in at Alexandria and fight a war against Negan and the Scavengers to stick around. Something pretty awful might need to happen to send our not-so-merry band of survivors on the run again. The footage from the epic new trailer indicates that it'll be a wild ride, no matter how it ends in Season 8.
The Walking Dead will return to AMC on Sunday, October 22 at 9 p.m. ET. Check out our breakdown of what we know so far about Season 8 for a peek ahead, and don't forget to take a look at our summer TV guide.
