Norman Reedus looking confused in a scene from Daryl Dixon

Scott M. Gimple talks Walking Dead Universe expansion, saying if he has his way, the zombie apocalypse will hit even more countries. Rick Grimes and company first encountered the undead in Atlanta, but soon found themselves trekking north, eventually reaching Virginia. Fear the Walking Dead then took TWD to the West Coast, while the upcoming Dead City season 2 sends Maggie and Negan back to New York. Daryl Dixon’s own spinoff delivered the action all the way to France, with Spain next up on Daryl and Carol’s itinerary.

But Europe may not be the only continent hosting The Walking Dead, as producer Gimple muses about potential future locales for the franchise to visit, recalling “experiments” in expanding the universe’s reach even further beyond American shores. Speaking to ScreenRant from the Multicon LA Wildfire Benefit, Gimple discussed his wishes for an ever-more-international TWD experience:

There’s one that we’re working on that I’m very, very excited to see that we’ve never been before. But I’d aIso love to see it in Tokyo, I would love to see it in Africa, and I would love to see it in Iceland. I know that’s a weird one, but we want to spam the globe because there’s stories all over the globe.

Gimple then briefly alluded to some efforts toward expansion that were tried out but didn’t quite catch on:

It’s so integral to Daryl Dixon’s story, but even beyond that, we want to go [more places]. We want to see other characters throughout the world, and how they’re faring. And we have had a lot of experiments to that. We’ve actually done really cool stories towards that, but they just haven’t come to fruition for this reason or that. But I will say that by doing them, I’ve essentially seen those shows in my brain, and I really like them.

What This Means For The Walking Dead

Gimple Has A Lot Of Plans

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Isabelle Carriere, and Laurent Carriere avoid walkers on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Carol aiming Daryl's crossbow at a zombie in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon with his arm outstretched in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, a spinoff of The Walking Dead. Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon on the radio in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. A zombie variant in the The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon finale Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Isabelle Carriere, and Laurent Carriere avoid walkers on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Carol aiming Daryl's crossbow at a zombie in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon with his arm outstretched in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, a spinoff of The Walking Dead. Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon on the radio in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. A zombie variant in the The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon finale

The Walking Dead is officially in the spinoff business after the flagship show was put on ice following season 11. Dead City and Daryl Dixon made some headway in finding fresh stories to tell within the universe, while The Ones Who Live circled back to wrap up the story of Rick and Michonne (though both those characters could presumably return).

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 premieres May 4 on AMC

Gimple’s remarks give some hint of efforts toward bringing TWD’s zombie mayhem to more international locales, and even tease an “exciting” new project that is still being worked on. The producer indeed seems to have a lot of ideas about how to keep The Walking Dead shambling along, fifteen years after the original show made its auspicious debut on AMC.

Our Take On Gimple’s Walking Dead Expansion Hopes

Stories Matter More Than Locations

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later imagery.Custom image by Ana Nieves

Daryl Dixon season 1 showed that a zombie-ravaged Europe could be fertile ground for Walking Dead Universe storytelling, serving as proof-of-concept for TWD as an international franchise. After season 2 brought Carol into the fold, Daryl Dixon season 3 will venture to Spain, with the promise of new allies, new enemies, and ever-more-ferocious zombie variants.

The Walking Dead is the kind of franchise that could theoretically work anywhere, allowing Gimple and company to set their sights far beyond the familiar settings introduced in the comics and on the original TWD series. But eventually, the franchise must introduce some compelling new main characters to populate those settings, as sending Daryl and Carol on a literal globetrotting adventure would be something of a stretch.

It’s easy enough for The Walking Dead to renew itself by setting up shop in different locales. What’s harder is telling stories compelling enough to warrant the ongoing effort. Even harder, arguably, is the task of establishing characters who hook into viewers the way Daryl, Carol, Rick, Michonne, Maggie and Negan have. Tokyo or Africa might be interesting locations to visit, but if the stories Gimple sees in his brain are just more stale variations on the familiar TWD formula, the end-result will be disappointing rather than thrilling.