The Walking Dead: World Beyond‘s zombie “cure” points AMC’s compass firmly toward ending the zombie apocalypse. Robert Kirkman’s main Walking Dead storyline has reliably shied away from the science behind its outbreak, meaning any potential cure has always eluded Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors. However, Walking Dead: World Beyond has embraced that world of white coats and test tubes, with the villainous Civic Republic Military recruiting promising minds such as Hope Bennett and Lyla Belshaw to investigate the mechanics of reanimation – and how it could one day be stopped.

Walking Dead: World Beyond season 2 boldly stepped forward and gave audiences a glimpse of what a zombie cure might look like – mushrooms! A research team led by Hope’s father, theorized that fungi could be an especially effective weapon of mass destruction against the undead. Hope and her booze-brewing expertise then provided the final piece of the puzzle – yeast. She believed this humble fungus could trigger rapid decay of reanimated corpses, bringing down zombies en masse, without the casualties that inevitably happen during direct combat.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

The closing scenes of Walking Dead: World Beyond shows Hope and the other escaped CRM scientists secretly working on their thesis away from Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek’s sharp glare. Having developed Hope’s yeast fungi idea into a working prototype, World Beyond‘s closing montage highlights the scientists putting their fungi weapon in action… and they watch in awe as the orange growth tears through a captured zombie test subject. A voice even describes how, “This rate of yeast-based decay is… extraordinary,” which confirms Hope’s zombie weapon is not only a viable way of taking down the undead, but a pretty good one.

Obviously, a long road awaits before Hope’s magical mushroom idea can be considered a zombie apocalypse cure, but the potential is certainly there. If Walking Dead: World Beyond‘s escaped geniuses can figure out an efficient delivery method (turning the fungi into a gas or spray, for example) then the yeast weapon could be spread across large areas, covering an entire horde in mere minutes. Come back a while later, and zombies that were once deadly would be nothing more than a pile of smelly decomposed mush. With the right resources, this process could be repeated across the world until the only zombies left are from the freshly-deceased. As long as dead bodies were disposed of responsibly, the outbreak would effectively be over. Hope Bennett certainly lives up to her name.

Whatever becomes of World Beyond‘s fungal fix, there’s no denying this is as close as The Walking Dead has ever dared venture toward ending its outbreak. The potential for civilization to be restored is finally in sight, thanks to Hope and her yeast, perhaps giving an early indication that AMC has an endgame in mind for its Walking Dead franchise. Multiple spinoffs and at least one Rick Grimes movie still lie ahead, but whereas The Walking Dead‘s apocalypse previously seemed open-ended, now there’s a potential third act for AMC to work toward, if the likes of Rick Grimes, Morgan Jones, Daryl Dixon, and Carol Peletier find World Beyond‘s scientists and help bring their mushroom mayhem to the wider world.

World Beyond‘s mushroom cure could lead The Walking Dead at least somewhat close to Robert Kirkman’s comic book ending. With Carl Grimes dead and the CRM running rampant, The Walking Dead‘s original finale (where Rick’s people have created a permanent safe zone across the U.S.) looks impossible to achieve in live-action. Thanks to Hope’s new zombie weapon, however, a world beyond the undead might not be out of reach after all.

Bridgerton Season 2 Originally Had More Sex (& Why Those Scenes Were Cut)

About The Author


Craig Elvy
(3623 Articles Published)

See also  Paranormal Activity 8: Everything We Know About The Other Side

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

More From Craig Elvy