Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 1 release date, cast, trailer for the YA spinoff

This article about Season 1 of the series The Walking Dead: World Beyond was originally published on November 25, 2019 and updated on June 20, 2021 following the release of the season on AMC. Read on for the original article, with some new changes to reflect the latest updates on this topic.

The end of the world was just the beginning. During the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead Season 9, AMC announced the third new series in its Walking Dead universe. Titled The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the show took place in the near future and focused on the first generation born into the post-apocalypse forced to grow up in a dangerous but familiar world.

Here’s everything we know about The Walking Dead: World Beyond, from release date details to the latest trailers to renewal odds.

What is the plot of The Walking Dead: World Beyond?

"It’s as if George Romero rewrote The Hunger Games.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond is the third series in AMC’s Walking Dead franchise, after The Walking Dead and its prequel/sequel series, Fear the Walking Dead. World Beyond takes place a little further into the future, in that it follows the first generation born into the apocalypse.

Still inexplicably set in the rural American south (filming takes place in Georgia, same as the other shows), the vague synopsis teases that the first generation will have some heroes… and some villains. “In the end, all of them will be changed forever.”

When was The Walking Dead: World Beyond's release date?

The Walking Dead: World Beyond premiered on October 4, 2020. It aired on AMC in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. It aired on Amazon Prime in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Who starred in The Walking Dead: World Beyond cast?

The cast of The Walking Dead: World Beyond include:

• Aliyah Royale as “Iris Bennett,” a smart high school student and aspiring scientist
• Alexa Mansour as “Hope Bennett,” Iris’s rebellious adoptive sister
• Hal Cumpston as “Silas Plaskett,” a shy teenager who was transferred to the Campus Colony after committing a violent offense
• Nicolas Cantu as “Elton Ortiz,” an analytical and quirkily-dressed intellectual
• Nico Tortorella as “Felix Carlucci,” the head of security at the Campus Colony and guardian of Iris and Hope
• Annet Mahendru as “Jennifer ‘Huck’ Mallick,” a security officer at the Campus Colony and Felix’s friend
• Julia Ormond as “Elizabeth Kublek,” the lieutenant colonel of the Civic Republic Military (CRM)

Also appearing in recurring roles were Joe Holt as Iris and Hope’s father Leo Bennett, Christina Marie Karis as Iris and Hope’s mother Kari Bennett, Natalie Gold as CRM scientist and Leo’s colleague Lyla, and Ted Sutherland as abandoned teen runaway Percy.

Did World Beyond have any familiar characters?

In the first season, there were no crossovers from The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead in World Beyond. But it took a few seasons before Fear the Walking Dead had any pronounced connections to The Walking Dead, so it might just be a matter of time.

Is there a trailer for World Beyond?

Yes! The trailer debuted during San Diego Comic-Con 2020. You can watch it below.

It kind of looks like a YA novel.

Doesn’t it? Besides the uplifting pop music score that plays in the trailer, The Walking Dead: World Beyond is a young adult fiction take on Walking Dead’s brand of zombie horror: A cast of young-ish teenagers goes up against a scary, authoritarian regime, all while trying to survive hordes of zombies. It’s as if George Romero rewrote The Hunger Games.

Was Walking Dead: World Beyond renewed for another season?

Yes! In fact, it’s been set from the beginning that The Walking Dead: World Beyond would only run for 2 seasons and 20 episodes total. So despite middling reviews for the 10-episode first season, you can expect Iris, Hope, and the gang to be back for another 10 episodes at some point to finish out their story.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond premiered on October 4, 2020 on AMC.