Spoilers ahead--according to the recently-aired series finale of Walking Dead: World Beyond, the zombie outbreak in the franchise was apparently manmade.

　　In a post-credits scene that is completely unrelated to the events of Walking Dead: World Beyond, an exchange spoken in French between a gunman and a doctor--no name is given for either character--medical researchers in France were inadvertently responsible for both starting--and worsening--the zombie apocalypse we've all come to know and love across a franchise that spans both the flagship and several spinoff series. It's unknown, but likely, that this information will come to bear in future Walking Dead content--maybe in the movie that series creator Robert Kirkman said is still "moving slowly" in pre-production at Comic-Con 2021?

　　Last year, Kirkman jokingly revealed in a since-deleted tweet that in the comics, "space spores" are responsible for the outbreak. As previously reported, Kirkman quickly walked that revelation back--many fans at the time pointed out that "space spores" was also a nod to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead.

　　Season 11 of The Walking Dead will finish out the series, and is currently a third through airing. The season is not expected to air all the way through until sometime in 2022. The ever-expanding franchise is still picking up speed, though, as there's also the animated anthology Tales of the Walking Dead and a set of feature films for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

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　　David Wolinsky on Google+