4. The TWD Universe era came too late
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of The Walking Dead. The main show might be over, but it’s just the beginning for the franchise, as the TWD Universe era has begun, with various spinoffs taking our favorite characters in new directions. Right now, we have Maggie and Negan back in The Walking Dead: Dead City and Daryl Dixon along with Carol Peletier back in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Rick and Michonne also returned in miniseries The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live to wrap up their story.
In some ways, this is a wise approach to continue the franchise, with the short six-episode seasons giving each spinoff a miniseries feel, spotlighting the characters and their stories in a way that shoehorning them into the main series wouldn’t have. It’s also been very successful so far, with Dead City and Daryl Dixon getting second season renewals right out of the gate (and the latter earning itself a third season renewal too). Nevertheless, one can’t help but wonder how successful it would have been if it came much sooner.
The TWD Universe might be the next chapter in the story of The Walking Dead, but had it come when the show was still in its prime, then it would have been much more of an event. If the show had ended somewhere between season 6 and 8 (or even season 9 when Rick left), there would have been far greater of an interest in seeing where the story went next. Heck, the original TWD spinoff Fear The Walking Dead was a huge success in its first few seasons because of how popular the franchise was. But with these new spinoffs launching at a time when far less people watched TWD, it’s just a reminder of how much bigger it could have been.
Speaking of which…