Undead Walking

It's safe to say that The Walking Dead franchise has made an incredible impression on pop-culture around the world. It's arguably the biggest zombie franchise of all time and an all-around titan of genre TV, which its reach extending far beyond the US TV screens that it was born on. Even now, nearly a half decade after the conclusion of the original series, the TWD Universe is still going strong.

Ever since Jon Bernthal starred as Shane Walsh in the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, his career has reached unprecedented levels of stardom. But while he's found a lot of success since his appearance in AMC's iconic show, 2026 is shaping up to be his best year yet. Bernthal appeared in major theatrical releases that have dominated the box office, such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey.

The final stretch is finally here. Last week, The Walking Dead fans took a pause from all the high-stakes scenarios and explored a parallel universe in which the world didn't abruptly end when the undead rose from beneath the ground. Instead, we witnessed what Maggie and Negan's life would've been like under normal circumstances: working full-time jobs, talking about their travels around the world, and meeting up with people who are long gone in the mainline universe, such as Beth.

The apocalypse is a scary thing to think about, but when you’re a fan of The Walking Dead universe, you’re probably trained in five different ways on how to survive if it actually happens. I feel like I’ve played enough zombie games to know how to shoot a gun at this point. Jokes aside, we’ve seen characters survive the apocalypse easily, and some die. But it makes you wonder — who, out of the whole cast of The Walking Dead,would survive in a real-world situation?

During my time watching The Walking DeadI've noticed that most characters are at their lowest when they are out trying to survive on their own. Then their best moments would arrive when they surrounded themselves with other like-minded survivors. As humans we are built for community, and when we have our people by our side, we can accomplish great things. So, it is no shock to find out what made The Walking Dead even better were the characters' friendships.

Ah, Glenn, the character that we all honestly loved so much and then felt our hearts get ripped out and destroyed when Negan killed him in the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead. It was never quite the same without him, and I still miss the survivor to this day. Luckily, Steven Yeun, the actor who starred as Glenn Rhee for six-ish seasons, has been having a generational run with some of the movies and TV shows he’s been in over the last few years.

It's quite ironic that a franchise about a group of survivors avoiding death at all costs has managed to do just that itself. The Walking Dead was originally envisioned as an adaptation of Robert Kirkman's acclaimed graphic novel series, but it wasn't long until the AMC series took on a life of its own, becoming a pop-culture phenomenon that told its own stories too, deviating from the source material for better or worse.

There has never been a better time to be a Resident Evil fan. Earlier this year, Requiem was released to critical acclaim and quickly became a Game of the Year contender by delivering a perfect formula that switches between terrifying horror sequences as Grace and Uncharted-like action set pieces as Leon. Now, Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie is just around the corner, and it is shaping up to be the franchise's greatest live-action project.

It goes without saying that The Walking Dead franchise is no stranger to shocking deaths. Heck, when it comes to consistent, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching deaths, you are looking at the undisputed champion of that. Remember Negan's vicious debut when he killed Glenn? What about that horrifying moment with Glenn's friend Noah? And how could we forgot the season 2 deaths of Dale and Shane, or the tragic falls of Lori and Carl. That's just the original series we're talking about.

You know, there comes a time in every TV universe’s life when it feels like we’re taking a bit of a step too far in the opposite direction. For shows in The Walking Dead universe, I have often felt that way. Do I necessarily think we should have gone all the way to Europe, of all places, for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon? Nah, I’m a little iffy on that. When it comes to Dead City, I don’t really mind where we are right now.