The Walking Dead Spinoff Star Reveals the Third Series’ Place in the Timeline

Nico Tortorella, who was cast in the lead role of AMC's third Walking Dead series in August, says the untitled spinoff is set a decade after the start of the zombie outbreak.

"His name is Felix and he is very much the protector of a younger generation," the Younger star told the Chicago Tribune when asked to describe their character. "The show is focusing on a younger generation of people, 10 years post-apocalypse, and I'm kind of the dad in charge."

That puts the spinoff, now filming under working title "Monument," in sync with the mothership series heading into its tenth season. A six-year time jump during Season 9 moved current action on The Walking Dead roughly into year ten of the apocalypse.

The earliest details from TWD3 said two young female protagonists will lead the series as it tells the story of the first generation raised after the fall of civilization. According to an official description released by AMC during San Diego Comic-Con in July, "Some will become heroes. Some will become villains. In the end, all of them will be changed forever. Grown-up and cemented in their identities, both good and bad."

Much like The Walking Dead and spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, this third series will follow a group of survivors in their own corner of the shared TWD Universe. Tortorella is joined by previously announced co-stars Aliyah Royale as Iris, Annet Mahendru as Huck, Alexa Mansour as Hope, Nicolas Cantu as Elton, Hal Cumpston as Silas and Joe Holt as Leo Bennett.

"The big secret is that all along, there have been other civilizations that survived the apocalypse. We saw hints of that in Season 7 of The Walking Dead and again in [Fear Season 5 episode] 'The End of Everything,' and now we're about to show a lot more of the world in a bunch of different projects," Gimple noted at Comic-Con. "These kids can grow up in a place of comfort and security, but they leave everything on a dangerous quest, and are being pursued by adults on their own. We'll see kids become heroes and some become villains. We're going to open up a whole new world of TWD."

Because TWD3 is part of that larger universe, Gimple hinted the series will exhibit ties to another project: the franchise's first movie trilogy, led by longtime Rick Grimes star Andrew Lincoln.

"I will say that as Rick took us into the zombie apocalypse, and was our avatar in entering this world, he is going to be our avatar in seeing a much bigger world with a lot of things that have been going on behind-the-scenes, out of our characters comprehension," Gimple told ComicBook.com at TWD's Season 10 premiere screening in Hollywood. "And so, we're going to discover a whole lot through him, and as there is a little connection to the new show, so people will see some things about the new show and go, 'Wait a minute. What's up there?' So, get ready."

Former Walking Dead star Michael Cudlitz was recently confirmed as a director on the spinoff series now filming in Virginia. AMC will debut TWD3 in Spring 2020.