Robert Kirkman has been invested in The Walking Dead's ever-expansive universe for over 15 years now, and there's no one more qualified to speak on the future of both the comic series and AMC's television show. Which is good, since he gets asked every single question that could possible be asked about the zombie franchise. He recently fielded an inquiry about The Walking Dead heading to different countries in the future, and while Kirkman doesn't expect to do much international traveling on the page, the TV series may very well branch out in such a way. According to Kirkman:
It's something we've discussed from time to time, and we have seen a bit of Mexico in Fear The Walking Dead. I don't really plan to expand things in the comic side of things ever, but I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually do something internationally in the TV space.
As the automatic caveat: Robert Kirkman has been known to make comments about the Walking Dead comics and TV show that are specifically meant to stoke fan interest without necessarily divulging any legitimate reveals. For every time he's unleashed mega-spoilers on TV audiences, Kirkman has bemusedly smirked his way through a bucketful of hyperbolic white lies. So while it's occasionally super-obvious when Kirkman is making things up, he brandishes a poker face like few others, especially when doing print-only responses to anonymous fan questions on Tumblr.. Still, we're going to actively hope that he's implying something exciting here.
Because how wild would it be to see The Walking Dead taking its story across the globe? As Robert Kirkman mentioned, Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 traveled to Mexico for its most invigorating and most important season yet. It would be relatively simple to also take the flagship series down below the border, and it'd be easier to bring characters above the Canadian border. But I'm selfishly hoping for something very different, possibly involving a completely different continent.
Since most of the Walking Dead survivors are without any vehicles that could realistically transport anyone from one continent to another, introducing globe-trotting plots would be quite difficult in most cases. But not so much if we see something via flashback, possibly involving the past exploits of The Walking Dead's newest character, Georgie. Or maybe we could meet a new character who hasn't been directly tied to the main narrative, such as what happened in the one-off comic issue Alien, in which writer Bryan K. Vaughan and artist Marcos Martin took readers to Spain to introduce Rick Grimes' brother Jeff. Hell, maybe we could even get a second spinoff taking place in East Asia or Africa or something.
During the same Q&A, Robert Kirkman also talked about when we might learn the origin story behind The Walking Dead's zombie outbreak, which is something he's previously stated would never get revealed. So even if he does say one day that it was a rare strain of swine flu that evolved, are we supposed to really believe it? Damn you, Kirkman!
Still firmly located in and around the Hilltop, The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET. To see what other shows are popping up in primetime soon, head to our midseason premiere schedule.
