Although The Walking Dead is best known for its original series which began in 2010 and lasted for eleven seasons, since then, the franchise has expanded to include several spinoffs and sequels, and now, there are various ways in which a new viewer could experience The Walking Dead universe. At this time, the franchise has the first series, The Walking Dead, along with thirteen spinoff series that have aired over the following years, some of which are multi-season shows while the others are shorter webseries. Overall, this means that there are fourteen series in total that take place in The Walking Dead world, along with the original comics written by Robert Kirkman and several video games.

First and foremost, there is no correct way to watch The Walking Dead and its spinoffs. Viewers can really start anywhere they want, and likely, will still have an enjoyable experience. The Walking Dead universe, no matter where one starts, is an exhilarating and gory world in which zombies reign and fear is always top of mind. Viewers are sure to be thrilled and disgusted no matter what they watch. Plus, the franchise has an abundance of lovable characters that remain lovable across the different series they appear in. However, spoilers are definitely an issue that audiences may want to keep in mind when stepping foot into The Walking Dead.

How To Watch The Walking Dead Franchise In Chronological Order

Although the various The Walking Dead shows have been released to audiences in a certain order, that order does not reflect the chronology of the universe. For example, the events of The Walking Dead are not actually the first to occur in the franchise, despite the fact that it came out first. In reality, if an audience member wanted to experience The Walking Dead universe in chronological order, they would not only have to watch the series out of release order, but would actually have to split up their watching season by season. Plus, because the franchise includes web series, the experience would exceed format as well as release order.

First, The Walking Dead franchise has fourteen series and spinoffs. They are as follows: 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, FTWD: Dead in the Water, FTWD: Passage, FTWD: Flight 462, TWD: Torn Apart, TWD: Cold Storage, TWD: The Oath, TWD: The Red Machete.

To watch The Walking Dead in chronological order, view in the following order: Fear the Walking Dead season 1, FTWD: Dead in the Water, FTWD Flight 462, FTWD season 2, FTWD: Passage, FTWD season 3, The Walking Dead season 1, TWD: Torn Apart, TWD season 2, TWD: Cold Storage, TWD season 3, TWD: The Oath, TWD season 4-7, TWD: Red Machete, TWD season 8, FTWD season 4-5, TWD season 9, episodes 1-5, FTWD season 6-7, Tales of the Walking Dead, TWD: World Beyond, TWD season 9, episodes 6-16, FTWD season 8, TWD season 10-11, TWD: The Ones Who Live, TWD: Daryl Dixon, TWD: Dead City.

How To Watch The Walking Dead Shows In Release Date Order

The most common order to watch The Walking Dead shows is in order of release date. For those who have been with the franchise since the beginning, this is likely the way in which they watched, and furthermore, this is the order that The Walking Dead creators likely wrote in. Once again, there is no proper way to watch The Walking Dead, but this is undoubtedly the most popular way to view it, and it might make the most sense as a general audience member. Though this order does not reflect the franchise’s timeline, it does still make complete sense, and also, traces the franchise’s history.

In release order: TWD season 1, Torn Apart, TWD season 2, Cold Storage, TWD season 3, The Oath, TWD season 4-5, FTWD season 1, Flight 462, TWD season 6, FTWD season 2, Passage, TWD season 7, FTWD season 3, The Red Machete, TWD season 8, FTWD season 4, TWD season 9, FTWD season 5, TWD season 10a, TWD: World Beyond season 1, FTWD season 6a, TWD season 10b, FTWD season 6b, TWD season 11a, TWD: World Beyond season 2, FTWD season 7a, TWD season 11b, Tales of the Walking DeadFTWD season 7b, Dead in the Water, FTWD season 7c, TWD season 11c, FTWD season 8a, Dead City, Daryl Dixon, The Ones Who Live.

The Best Order To Watch The Walking Dead And Its Spinoffs

There are definitely pros and cons to how one watches The Walking Dead franchise. If a viewer starts randomly with The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, then they will likely understand the series, but not the nuance of Daryl’s character. Therefore, the best options are to either watch in chronological order or release date order. However, these also come with benefits and takeaways. For one, if a viewer watches The Walking Dead chronologically, then they will never become confused about the timeline. However, they may lose out on the magic of starting with The Walking Dead, and will ultimately have to wait to enjoy the original series’ characters. Spoilers may also occur.

On the other hand, if an audience member watches The Walking Dead in release order, there is a lot of planning that takes place. As seen above, the intersection between the release of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead is confusing near the end of the two series, as the seasons were split into different parts. Though this is how live audiences may have watched it, this method isn’t completely conducive to streaming or bingeing. If watched in order of release date, there would definitely be a lot of skipping around and potential confusion based on where the viewer last left off.

Overall, the best way to watch The Walking Dead franchise is most likely to take it one series at a time, vaguely in release order. This means that a viewer would probably benefit from entering the franchise with The Walking Dead first. Then, they could delve into Fear the Walking Dead, Tales of the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and eventually, The Ones Who Live. By watching in this way, viewers can keep their series and spinoffs straight and maintain focus on just one thing. Though this could potentially confuse the timeline, a simple internet search can provide viewers with the information they’re after.

Why The Walking Dead’s Timeline Is Hard To Pin Down

The Walking Dead‘s timeline is incredibly difficult to pinpoint due to how many series there are. The main show alone suffers from multiple time skips, with the first nine seasons all taking place within around three years before the finale jumps to nearly a decade later. There is no clear way of definitively nailing The Walking Dead‘s timeline, with much of it being up for interpretation. It is possible to get a vague idea of when things are happening, but there is no exact science around specific dates and sometimes even years.

Dead City intentionally makes its timeline vague, as it obviously happens after the main show, but doesn’t clarify how many years have passed. This makes it much harder to know where the new spinoffs take place timeline-wise and creates confusion about when a crossover could theoretically take place in the universe. With how difficult it is to accurately follow the show’s timeline, it does leave flexibility in terms of how the audience watches it. This reinforces the idea that watching one show at a time is likely the best way to experience such a complicated franchise.