Will The Walking Dead’s Michonne Crossover With TWD: World Beyond?

TWD franchise chief content officer Scott Gimple has teased the second season of upcoming spinoff The Walking Dead: World Beyond could feature "a big aspect of crossover" with either The Walking Dead or Fear the Walking Dead, and the plans might include the departure of Michonne (Danai Gurira). The sword-swinging warrior will exit in the upcoming second half of the main series' tenth season, which left off with Michonne and stranded survivor Virgil (Kevin Carroll) setting sail towards a naval base on Maryland's Bloodsworth Island to claim weaponry needed to destroy the zombie horde controlled by Whisperer pack leader Alpha (Samantha Morton).

Maryland is far from the mostly Nebraska-set World Beyond, but all three shows are now linked by the shadowy CRM organization secretly responsible for the disappearance of Michonne's lover Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) six years earlier. CRM will feature heavily in World Beyond, and its university campus setting belongs to one of three major civilizations in TWD Universe bound by the recurring three-circle symbol.

If Virgil's naval base is linked to the militarized CRM — who so far have a presence in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania, as evidenced by the Walking Dead movie teaser — it's possible Michonne never makes it back from her trip at sea. Like Rick and the missing Heath (Corey Hawkins), who was abducted by CRM, Michonne could vanish and later reappear alongside Lincoln in the planned Walking Dead movie trilogy.

Gimple has hinted blockbuster star Gurira could transition into the movie side of the franchise, saying at San Diego Comic-Con last July TWD Universe might not be "completely done" with Gurira despite her looming Season 10 exit.

"She has some amazing things ahead of her and we're not completely done with her, I'll say that," Gimple said. "We're not completely done with anyone who comes and goes on the show. But she has some amazing things ahead."

Unlike AMC's first pair of Walking Dead shows, the network announced World Beyond will run for just two seasons, further suggesting the two-season series created by Gimple and Matthew Negrete will act as a bridge towards the Walking Dead movies, the first of which could arrive in 2021 or 2022. Gimple has already confirmed the "vast mythology" behind CRM will be explored in the movies centered around the long-missing Rick Grimes, and it's the second season of World Beyond where Michonne could appear before resurfacing somewhere in the big screen movie trilogy:

"We've been talking about aspects of next season of World Beyond. There might even be a big aspect of crossover with one of the shows," Gimple recently told EW of World Beyond, set during the same time period as TWD Season 10. "That's the other part of it is we have these plans, but we've got to execute them. That's sort of next season. We're still finishing up this season."

Worlds collided twice before when TWD transplants Morgan (Lennie James) and then Dwight (Austin Amelio) joined Fear, setting precedence for a character transitioning between series. Because World Beyond is effectively a direct lead-in to the Rick-focused Walking Dead movies, there exists a possibility World Beyond Season 2 features a crossover with another major Walking Dead character to potentially fill in the blanks in the event Michonne crosses over into the movies.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond premieres Sunday, April 12 following TWD's Season 10 finale. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.