Morgan Jones and Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead Franchise

Although The Walking Dead franchise began with its eponymous 2010 show, there’s another series that is a better place to start when diving into this zombie world: Fear the Walking Dead. These days, a number of different TV shows make up The Walking Dead franchise. There have been spinoffs like The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Yet, for the first five years of the franchise, there was only one show: The Walking Dead. Regardless, the subsequent Walking Dead spinoffs have provided new places for audiences to start.

Fear the Walking Dead was the very first spinoff of The Walking Dead, and in some ways, it was the most unusual. Premiering in 2015, the show delves into the first days of the zombie outbreak, when regular humans become victims of The Walking Dead’s vicious zombies. For eight seasons, the show follows a group of survivors and their journey to find safety and companionship within a seemingly never-ending apocalypse. Eventually, Fear the Walking Dead intersects with The Walking Dead, but strangely enough, the first few seasons are entirely independent of the original series.

Show In The Walking Dead Franchise
Release Year

The Walking Dead
2010

Fear the Walking Dead
2015

The Walking Dead: World Beyond


2020

Tales of the Walking Dead
2022

The Walking Dead: Dead City
2023

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
2023

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
2024

Fear The Walking Dead Is A Great Starting Point For The Franchise

How Is Starting With Fear The Walking Dead Better

Kim Dickens As Madison And Colman Domingo As Strand In Fear The Walking Dead Season 8

Fear the Walking Dead may not be the first show released in The Walking Dead franchise, but it is still a solid place to start for those who are new to the series. Notably, Fear the Walking Dead comes before The Walking Dead chronologically, making it a great entry point for new viewers. By starting with Fear the Walking Dead, viewers are able to see the apocalypse from the very beginning rather than in the middle. Therefore, rather than jumping around on The Walking Dead timeline, audiences are able to experience the zombie apocalypse as it unfolded.

Whereas other The Walking Dead spinoffs rely on previous knowledge of the show, Fear the Walking Dead is the ideal gateway for newcomers.

The best part of watching Fear the Walking Dead first is that newcomers do not need prior knowledge of The Walking Dead to watch. For the first few seasons, Fear the Walking Dead essentially functions as its own show, just set in the same universe. It deals with characters surviving through the apocalypse in a different corner of The Walking Dead’s map, allowing its story to stand on its own quite well. Whereas other The Walking Dead spinoffs are built on previous concepts and characters, Fear the Walking Dead is the ideal gateway for newcomers.

Fear The Walking Dead Doesn’t Intersect With The Main Show Until Season 4

When Viewers Should Watch The Walking Dead Explained

Rick and Daryl in The Walking Dead

For those who are considering starting with Fear the Walking Dead, the only thing to know is that the show begins to intersect with The Walking Dead in season 4. While a prior knowledge of The Walking Dead is not necessary, it will provide more context to certain characters’ backstories and make particular moments a bit more meaningful. However, watching The Walking Dead beforehand is definitely not required. In fact, audiences could watch The Walking Dead after Fear the Walking Dead and would still enjoy the franchise.