“The Walking Dead” may not be about superheroes, but comic books are still the current Hollywood cash cow, and AMC didn’t want the setting contained to just one show.

Beginning with season 2, AMC launched “Talking Dead,” a talk show where Chris Hardwick would sit down with cast, crew, and/or celebrity “Walking Dead” fans to discuss that night’s episode. The program’s first guests were Patton Oswalt and James Gunn, with later appearances by fans — from Kevin Smith to Hayley Williams. Then in 2014, the network launched a proper spin-off: “Fear The Walking Dead.” That series never had ratings to rival its parent show, but it’s still running with an eighth season on the way.

Gimple stepped down as showrunner for “The Walking Dead” after season 8. Unlike Darabont, this wasn’t due to disagreements with AMC — quite the opposite. He was promoted to “chief content officer” while Angela Kang took over show-running the main series.

Kang’s tenure saw an improvement in reviews, but not ratings. Rick also exited the show in season 9 episode 5, “What Comes After,” but the show held off on killing him. Why? So Andrew Lincoln could headline a trilogy of spin-off movies (later turned into a TV series).

Two more “Walking Dead” spin-offs, both the brain-children of Gimple, have since aired. “The World Beyond” ran two seasons from 2020 and 2021, focusing on Nebraskan teenagers who came of age in a world of the dead. “Tales of the Walking Dead,” which debuted in August 2022, is an anthology spotlighting new characters from across the setting.

More spin-offs are on the way: the aforementioned Rick Grimes series, a Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) series (originally set to co-star Melissa McBride as Carol), and “Dead City,” focusing on Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Green).