The Walking Dead: World Beyond Review – Dead on Arrival
The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the spinoff series in the world of The Walking Dead, will premiere on Sunday, October 4 after The Walking Dead season 10 finale. Press were given an advance screening opportunity for the first two episodes. This show is going to be a difficult sell to fans of the original Walking Dead, as it is far from what viewers are accustomed to watching.
SPOILER FREE
Created by Scott M. Gimple and Matt Negrete, World Beyond follows the first generation of survivors born into the zombie apocalypse. The show definitely has a completely different tone to it and feels nothing like the original series. Don’t let the appearance of walkers and the name The Walking Dead in the credits fool you. This show is for a new viewer – a targeted audience younger and outside the demographic of the original show and, for that matter, even different than that of fans of Fear The Walking Dead.
The show will specifically follow a sibling duo played by Alexa Mansour (The Resident) and Aliyah Royale (The Red Line). Emmy-winner Julia Ormond (Temple Grandini) will play Elizabeth, the leader of a mysterious organization known as CRM, which helicoptered Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) into the sky and off The Walking Dead for good. Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts directed the series’ pilot episode.
The acting, unfortunately, is sub-par and it tries too hard to be something that it is not. Some have made the comparison to the class, Stand By Me, but that cast was a stellar group of young men/actors who would later go on to great things. This young cast doesn’t reach those levels of acting.
There are several bright spots throughout the first two episodes. Julia Ormond and Nico Tortorella stand out and their characters immediately have depth and curiosity that, if their characters had been more front and center, if not the focus of the show, could have made World Beyond something more interesting. However, without them, the show lacks anything that is new and intriguing. There are a few other good moments, but nothing to carry your desire to keep watching.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond is a different spin on the franchise, targeting a younger generation and viewers. It’s also being sold as a bridge to the Rick Grimes movies and will provide answers to where Rick is and what has happened to him. The show will only air two seasons, which now puts it on pace with the original The Walking Dead to end around the same time in 2022.
The question when Fear The Walking Dead was can you have too much of a good thing? And certainly, that show has seen its own struggles. Now, after watching The Walking Dead World Beyond, the answer is clearly… yes. Yes, you can have too much of a good thing.
I will add this. Maybe I clearly didn’t like it because I don’t fit in the demographic this new show is targeting. However, the goal of the show should be to draw both original show viewers and new, younger, viewers to it.
Once you’ve seen the new series, let us know your thoughts on the series.
Covering superheroes, anything dark, horror, and more! Lead writer for Fan Fest
