The Walking Dead: How to watch The Walking Dead universe in release and chronological order

Want to know how to watch every The Walking Dead show in order? After over a decade on our screens, the Walking Dead has exploded from one series into an entire universe. Below, we’ll cover how to watch The Walking Dead universe in both release and chronological order and explain the differences between the two, so that you can choose the experience you’d prefer.

How to watch The Walking Dead in chronological order

The Walking Dead first aired in 2011 and is set to end over the next few months. However, as various spin-offs have started in the decade since, it’s not as simple to watch through the universe of The Walking Dead in order as you might expect.

Fear The Walking Dead, a spin off that started as a prequel to explain the origins of the apocalypse, pivoted focus after the first few seasons and used a time skip to catch up to the main series.

Over the following years, popular characters shifted between the two shows, making it important to understand the chronology of the universe. Likewise, as The Walking Dead Season 11 draws to a close, the emerging presence of the CRM makes both Fear The Walking Dead and a more recent spinoff, The Walking Dead: World Beyond (which explores the CRM more closely) more significant.

Below, we’ll list how to watch the various series in the Walking Dead universe in chronological order:

1. Fear The Walking Dead: Dead in the Water web series
2. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 1
3. Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462
4. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 2
5. Fear The Walking Dead: Passage web series
6. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 3
7. The Walking Dead: Season 1/The Walking Dead: Torn Apart web series
8. The Walking Dead: Season 2
9. The Walking Dead: Cold Storage web series
10. The Walking Dead: Season 3
11. The Walking Dead: The Oath web series
12. The Walking Dead: Season 4
13. The Walking Dead: Season 5
14. The Walking Dead: Season 6
15. The Walking Dead: Season 7
16. The Walking Dead: Red Machete
17. The Walking Dead: Season 8
18. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 4
19. The Walking Dead: Season 9
20. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 5
21. The Walking Dead: Season 10
22. The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 1
23. The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 2
24. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 6
25. The Walking Dead: Season 11
26. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 7

How to watch The Walking Dead in release order

While chronological order helps you follow the journeys of characters and the overarching storyline across the universe, it isn’t the original order in which The Walking Dead aired. Below, you can find out how to watch The Walking Dead universe in release order:

1. The Walking Dead: Season 1
2. The Walking Dead: Torn Apart web series
3. The Walking Dead: Season 2
4. The Walking Dead: Cold Storage web series
5. The Walking Dead: Season 3
6. The Walking Dead: The Oath web series
7. The Walking Dead: Season 4
8. The Walking Dead: Season 5
9. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 1
10. Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462 web series
11. The Walking Dead: Season 6
12. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 2
13. Fear The Walking Dead: Passage web series
14. The Walking Dead: Season 7
15. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 3
16. The Walking Dead: Red Machete web series
17. >The Walking Dead: Season 8
18. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 4
19. The Walking Dead: Season 9
20. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 5a
21. Fear The Walking Dead: Althea Tapes web series
22. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 5b
23. The Walking Dead: Season 10
24. The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 1
25. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 6
26. The Walking Dead: Season 11 part one
27. The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 2
28. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 7a
29. Fear The Walking Dead: Dead in the Water web series
30. Fear The Walking Dead: Season 7b
31. The Walking Dead: Season 11 part two

Upcoming content in The Walking Dead universe

The above lists cover the content that you can currently watch, but The Walking Dead universe won’t stop anytime soon. While the main series is about to end, multiple spin off projects have been announced. Below, you can find a list of upcoming projects in The Walking Dead universe and learn about where they fit in the timeline:

Rick Grimes & Michonne show

Originally planned as a movie trilogy, Rick Grimes and Michonne will return to The Walking Dead universe in their own TV show to launch sometime in 2023.

“This is a moment fans of The Walking Dead have been waiting for since Rick disappeared in the helicopter early in season nine, and Michonne journeyed away on a quest to find him the following season,” says AMC president of entertainment/AMC Studios Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “What a great surprise for the fans at this final Comic-Con for the series that launched this universe and made television history. We couldn’t be more excited for a truly epic series finale later this year and to see Andy and Danai return in a new series they helped create, one of three new series coming in 2023 that continue the stories of so many iconic and fan-favorite TWD characters."

The as-yet-untitled Michonne/Rick Grimes series is announced as a six-episode show, and was originally announced to be a movie. Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln will be reprising their roles in this, of course.

Daryl spinoff series

Originally announced by Deadline as a Daryl and Carol focused spinoff back in September 2020, this series is set to take place after The Walking Dead’s finale. However, news broke in April 2022 that Melissa McBride would no longer be available for the series, so it will now focus solely on Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon. The plot is currently unknown, but the series is set to air in 2023.

Isle of the Dead spinoff series

Another series set to extend the story following the end of the main The Walking Dead show, Isle of the Dead will focus on Maggie and Negan as they explore New York. The series is announced to air in 2023 as a six-episode season. It’s not currently known whether this will tie into the Daryl series or the Rick Grimes movies, but it’s certainly possible considering the timeframe of the three projects.

Tales From The Walking Dead spinoff anthology series

The only spinoff not directly attached to the main show, Tales From The Walking Dead is an anthology that will dedicate each episode to a different survivor. That varied approach makes it hard to pinpoint a timeline for the series as a whole, but we do know that one episode will follow Alpha before she came into The Walking Dead in Season 9.

While most other episodes aren’t likely to focus on established characters, we do know that we can expect to see plenty of new actors join the universe. Terry Crews, Anthony Edwards, Parker Posey, Poppy Liu, and Jillian Bell are all set to star.

That wraps up our breakdown of how to watch The Walking Dead in both chronological and release order. While the comics and TellTale games take place in a separate continuity, they still offer plenty of other apocalyptic adventures to explore. If you’re interested in the upcoming Clementine book series, check out our interview with author Tillie Walden.