(Photo Credit: AMC)
The Walking Dead watch order has swelled considerably over the years, thanks to the runaway success of the original series. Even with the notoriety of Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s comic, no one could have expected that this single zombie drama would expand into a sprawling television universe comprising seven different shows, which is still going 16 years after it first began. That’s, of course, even before counting the eight web series that tie into the first two entries. Further complicating matters, many of the later series run concurrently, with characters and storylines overlapping across multiple timelines.
So, whether you’re new to the franchise or a returning fan gearing up for another rewatch, you’ve got two options when deciding how to watch The Walking Dead if you’re choosing to go all-in. One is significantly more arduous than the other. Both paths are outlined below, along with the seven shows that make up The Walking Dead television universe as of April 2026.
What is the best order to watch The Walking Dead?
The easiest way to watch The Walking Dead is in the series release order:
The Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead
The Walking Dead: World Beyond
Tales of the Walking Dead
The Walking Dead: Dead City
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
Alternatively, the franchise can be viewed in chronological order. This pathway starts out simple. However, upon reaching The Walking Dead Season 5, the viewer must switch between series multiple times a season:
The Walking Dead Seasons 1–5
Fear the Walking Dead Season 1
The Walking Dead Season 6
Fear the Walking Dead Season 2
The Walking Dead Season 7
Fear the Walking Dead Season 3
The Walking Dead Season 8
Fear the Walking Dead Season 4
The Walking Dead Season 9
Fear the Walking Dead Season 5
The Walking Dead Season 10, Episodes 1–16
The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 1
Fear the Walking Dead Season 6
The Walking Dead Season 10, Episodes 17–22
The Walking Dead Season 11, Episodes 1–8
The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 2
Fear the Walking Dead Season 7, Episodes 1–8
The Walking Dead Season 11, Episodes 9–16
Fear the Walking Dead Season 7, Episodes 9–16
Tales of the Walking Dead Season 1
The Walking Dead Season 11, Episodes 17–24
Fear the Walking Dead Season 8, Episodes 1–6
The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 1
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 1
Fear the Walking Dead Season 8, Episodes 7–12
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2
The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3
The following rundown lists the shows in release order, along with cast and series summaries.
The Walking Dead: (2010-2022)
The AMC series The Walking Dead ran for 11 seasons over 12 years. It was developed by Frank Darabont from the Walking Dead comics by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The series begins in a post-apocalyptic American South, when sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) wakes from a coma in a hospital. The world he knew has been overrun by Walkers – the series term for zombies. But these zombies are not the same as the ones in Night of the Living Dead. They’re fast, drawn to sound, and there are thousands of them.
Rick becomes the leader of a small group of survivors in what was once Atlanta, Georgia. Together, they struggle to stay alive. However, this group of survivors isn’t the only one left. Alongside the threat of the Walkers and the contagion that created them, there are also other humans who will do anything to stay alive. This sets up the series’ recurring theme that sometimes the worst monsters are ordinary humans.
Fear the Walking Dead: (2015-2023)
This prequel series premiered in 2015 and explores the early days of the zombie apocalypse. The series focuses on a dysfunctional family in Los Angeles before the pandemic entirely takes hold. As the infection spreads and society crumbles, the family must navigate their collapsing world while also figuring out how to reinvent themselves in order to survive.
The core cast consists of high school counselor Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), her fiancé Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis), her teenage daughter Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), and her young son. The ensemble is rounded out by Travis’s son from a previous marriage, Nick Clark (Frank Dillane), and Nick’s mother, Liza (Elizabeth Rodriguez).
The Walking Dead: World Beyond (2020-2021)
The Walking Dead: World Beyond opens ten years after the start of the apocalypse. The series follows two sisters, Iris (Aliyah Royale) and Hope (Alexa Mansour), and their friend Elton (Nicolas Cantu). They are part of the first generation to grow up in the zombie apocalypse. The three teens leave the relative safety of their Nebraska hometown for a dangerous journey to reach a mysterious group linked to the Civic Republic Military (CRM).
This limited two-season series premiered in 2020 and is widely considered the weakest entry in the franchise. It was intended to offer a youth-friendly entry point into The Walking Dead universe. In execution, however, it played out as a Disney teen drama, with all that description entails. That said, this series may not be for everyone.
Tales of the Walking Dead (2022)
Developed as an anthology series, each episode of Tales of the Walking Dead is a standalone special. The series was intended to focus on new and established characters in the Walking Dead universe. However, it only lasted a single season of six episodes.
In the first episode, Joe (Terry Crews), a prepper who’s been living alone for a while, leaves his bunker to search for a fellow prepper he’s been corresponding with online. Along the way, he meets Evie (Olivia Munn), a woman on a similar quest to find her estranged husband. Episode Five begins when Davon (Jessie T. Usher) wakes up in a small Maine town, handcuffed to the corpse of a woman named Amanda (Embeth Davidtz).
That two-episode preview is just a teaser. As with most anthologies, some of the chapters are stronger than others. However, the producers clearly wanted to try something different with The Walking Dead setting. For the most part, they were successful.
The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023 – )
Created by Eli Jorne, The Walking Dead: Dead City centers on two of the most popular characters from The Walking Dead universe: Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Set in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, Dead City follows the duo as they form an unlikely partnership. They venture into the city to track down Maggie’s kidnapped son, Herschel. As per usual, they have to stay alive in a city overrun by Walkers and dangerous human survivors.
Dead City currently has two seasons available, with the first premiering in 2023. The series was officially renewed in July 2025, so there’s more to come. However, as of April 2026, AMC has not confirmed a release date for Season 3 or whether it will continue beyond Season 3. In either case, it is believed that Dead City Season 3 is being held back for a 2027 release.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (2023 – 2026)
The Walking Dead couldn’t very well have a Negan spinoff without also having a Daryl spinoff. That’s where The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon comes in. Norman Reedus reprises his role as Daryl, who mysteriously washes ashore in France, where the virus originated. With no memory of how he got there, Daryl must make his way through the violence of provincial France and contend with different strains of the virus he’s never seen before.
Early on, Daryl discovers a young child and their caretakers in danger and takes it upon himself to protect them. In exchange for secured passage back to America, Daryl escorts them to the Nest, a sanctuary near Paris. Along the way, he also forms new alliances and encounters dangerous enemies. These include survivors who have adapted to the apocalypse in ways very different from his.
The third season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon concluded in October 2025. AMC has confirmed a fourth and final season, though an exact release date has yet to be announced. We do know it will arrive sometime in 2026.
More recent news, however, has given fans hope that we’ll see Andrew Lincoln return as Rick Grimes in the series. With his recent ITV drama Coldwater wrapping production, there may be more room in his schedule for a return to the franchise. For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024)
A six-episode miniseries created by Scott M. Gimple, Danai Gurira, and Andrew Lincoln, The Ones Who Live is set after the conclusion of The Walking Dead. Without giving away too many spoilers from the main series, it begins five years after the CRM took Rick Grimes. The series follows the separate journeys of its characters as they attempt to find one another. This ultimately culminates in the long-awaited reunion between Rick and Michonne.
While the series didn’t receive the most outstanding reviews, it fully wrapped up the storyline between Rick and Michonne. This was one of the biggest issues fans (and also the creators) had with the original series. Whether the series did much beyond that is hard to say. However, it cannot be denied that it did tie things up neatly.
