In less than two weeks, fans of The Walking Dead will get to experience the zombie apocalypse from a teenager’s point of view when the newest spinoff series debuts on AMC. The Walking Dead: World Beyond follows four young characters as they venture out beyond the safety of their gated community. Now, AMC has released a new World Beyond featurette that sheds fresh light on these characters’ personalities.
Hope (Alexa Mansour) and Iris (Aliyah Royale) are sisters who are at the heart of the two-season storyline. At first glance, the siblings appear to be polar opposites. Iris is a run-of-the-mill overachiever who works hard for her community. However, underneath her “classic class president smile,” there’s a longing for something more. Mansour noted that Iris wants to be more like Hope, who “wants to come off as being a badass.” But what she doesn’t seem to realize is that Hope is just as scared as anyone else trying to survive the end of the world.
Viewers also meet Hope and Iris’ two travelling companions, Elton (Nicolas Cantu) and Silas (Hal Cumpston). Both of these characters have different reasons for accompanying the girls on their journey. Cantu says that Elton is driven by his scientific curiosity about the outside world, but he also “knows what it’s like to lose somebody.” Meanwhile, Cumpston describes Silas as a “shy, soft-spoken gentle giant.” Unfortunately, he’s haunted by rumors of a “violent past” that he wants to leave behind.
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In the long run, all four characters are bound by their individual traumas. And according to showrunner Matt Negrete, this is a key theme that the series will explore.
“Trauma defines all of us,” said Negrete. “And regardless of how safe we are now, it’s what happened in those hard times that really make an impact on us. And especially when you’re impressionable when you’re a young kid, those things just define everything about who we are.”
The Walking Dead: World Beyond premieres on Sunday, October 4 on AMC.
You can watch the new featurette below, then share your thoughts in the comment section!
Recommended Reading: Walking Dead Omnibus Vol. 1
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