The Walking Dead's Surviving Characters Could Return in Spinoffs

By Cameron Bonomolo

The Walking Dead series finale ended with a shocker: after eleven bloody seasons, the last episode's body count was not nearly as high as fans anticipated going into "Rest in Peace." The episode opened with Luke (Dan Fogler) and Jules (Alex Sgambati) as the first victims of a walker horde that flooded inside the walls of the Commonwealth community, which would ultimately claim the life of a zombie-bitten Rosita (Christian Serratos). In the end, almost every character who survived through the final season made it out of The Walking Dead alive.

That includes Aaron (Ross Marquand), who went on to co-lead the rebuilt Alexandria community, where he lives with his daughter Gracie (Anabelle Holloway). The endgame was hopeful and open-ended enough closure for The Walking Dead — and, according to Marquand, a way of leaving the door open for the surviving characters to potentially transition into upcoming spin-offs.

"I kind of joked that I wished more people had met a grisly demise at the end. Because I feel like it would have been a much more impactful ending if like half the cast died, but that's just because I'm a big fan of Shakespearean drama and I love everyone to die," Marquand told Fandom Spotlite. "But I'm glad that [Aaron] didn't die because I feel like it's a hopeful ending for him and Gracie, and I think Gracie needs a dad."

Though The Walking Dead ended after eleven seasons, the Walking Dead Universe will live on: there's the upcoming eighth and final season of the original spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, and new spin-offs following Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) into New York City, another finding Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) stranded in France, and another reuniting Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

"I'm excited, too, if they ever want to bring us back. I think that's another reason why they kept a lot of us alive. Even though the show was ending, there might be opportunities with spin-offs and everything else to come back. So, we'll see," Marquand said, adding there's also the potential for past characters to return on the anthology spin-off Tales of the Walking Dead. "It's all vignettes, right? So they could easily pop us in for [episodes] here and there, so we'll see."

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Fear the Walking Dead season 8 premieres May 14th on AMC, followed by The Walking Dead: Dead City in June and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon later in 2023. The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne is scheduled to premiere in 2024 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

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