The Walking Dead Universe Looking at New Shows That Are Super Darker and Super Lighter

The Walking Dead chief content officer Scott Gimple is exploring new shows that are "super darker" or "super lighter" than AMC's current lineup of TWD, Fear the Walking Dead and the untitled spinoff Gimple co-created with Matthew Negrete.

"[Humor is] something I want in every show that we make," Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter's "TV's Top 5" podcast. "Though I will say, as we push on, there's gonna be some super darker shows and there might be some super lighter shows that aren't quite as balanced as our three shows. We're gonna start experimenting with different lengths of series, and that might allow things to be a little focused up in different directions."

Gimple notes humor is already "baked in" the flagship series now airing its tenth season.

"With The Walking Dead, whether you're starting at the comic, whether you're doing any of the seasons that any of the showrunners did on that show, it's just baked in," he said. "It's part of it."

Gimple also revealed discussions surrounding a comedic TWD series, saying he can imagine a show lighter in tone that leans into "full comedic stuff."

"There's a few things that we're working on now that I'm very excited about. There are characters in this universe who are used to this world, that can have a lighter take," he said. "You can have your Black Panther and your Guardians of the Galaxy. And really, I mean, we've talked about full comedic stuff. Like even more than lighter."

He added, "Never anything that would be goofy with the walkers. You just can't violate that, no singing and dancing dead people."

This potential series could be a one-off special or one of the shorter length series in the works under Gimple, who laid out plans for contained shows that could run anywhere between one to 12 episodes. However these shows materialize, Gimple aims to "achieve more variety in the things we put out."

"We do want to do these smaller things that are completely their own thing, and then do something else," Gimple explained. "Some stuff could be three episodes, some stuff could be six episodes, some stuff could be 12 or 16 [episodes]."

Fear showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, coming off a lighter-in-tone Season 5, recently said the spinoff's sixth season will take its characters on a "far darker" journey. And The Walking Dead, under showrunner Angela Kang, is plenty dark with its survivors pit in deadly conflict against the murderous Alpha (Samantha Morton) and the walker skin-wearing Whisperers.

New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 10 premiere Sundays at 9/8c on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.