Tales of the Walking Dead Creator Updates Spinoff Bringing Back Familiar Faces

The Walking Dead chief content officer Scott Gimple says franchise fans are getting closer to learning more about Tales of the Walking Dead, the episodic anthology spinoff in development at AMC. Officially announced by the network in September alongside the expanded Final Season of The Walking Dead and the coming Daryl & Carol spinoff, Tales features "individual episodes or arcs of episodes focused on new and existing characters, backstories, or other stand-alone experiences." Compared to a weekly grab bag on Sundays, the series spans the Walking Dead Universe timeline and will tell tales taking place at the onset of the zombie apocalypse with characters who survive the mothership show and those who have already died.

"I'm hoping actually to have some information into the new year. We're just sort of trying to sequence it with the rest of the things we're working on," the Tales creator said in a wide-ranging interview with ComicBook.com on the future of TWD Universe. "It's been announced. It's a serious endeavor right now. But as far as the when of it all, we're getting closer to that."

The new year could bring confirmation about which Walking Dead favorite characters will live again in Tales. Abraham Ford actor Michael Cudlitz has strongly hinted the cigar-chomping military man will return in the new series, which will also unmask the since-slain Whisperer Beta (Ryan Hurst) by revealing more of his tragic backstory.

In October, Gimple said he's in talks with John Carroll Lynch to reprise his role as Eastman — the mentor of Morgan Jones (Lennie James) — who appeared in a one-off episode of The Walking Dead during its sixth season. That same month, Sasha Williams actress Sonequa Martin-Green said she would "love to" revisit her role in Tales following Sasha's death in season 7.

Tales comes as the franchise moves into a new era of The Walking Dead, where the flagship series will end after a 24-episode season 11 before spinning out Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) into their continuation spinoff.

"We have the Carol/Daryl show, which in some ways is the centerpiece of what's moving forward," Gimple said. "Tales on the other hand is completely different. There isn't even a regular cast to that show. I think there's gonna be a mix of old favorites in various ways, whether they be specials, whether they be mini-series, whether they be on Tales, and then things like Carol and Daryl, and rolled out in a way that we're not over-saturating people with it, but letting people have a steady flow of The Walking Dead in their lives. That's our goal."

He added, "We want that to be both very different and then some of those familiar faces. There's reinvention of the existing. And then there's the new stuff."

The Walking Dead returns with new episodes on February 28, 2021, on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.