Will The Walking Dead spinoff series be a prequel?

AMC announced plans for a spinoff for The Walking Dead in September, however at the time there weren't that many details on the new series. It was revealed the spinoff will have "an entirely new story and cast of characters," and won't be connected to the comics, but what's going to make it different from the original? Maybe by having less zombies; TV Line has heard from multiple sources that the spinoff might be a prequel, set during the initial outbreak of the zombie virus.

There’s increasing buzz that the offshoot will be a prequel of sorts, one that would chronicle the early days of the epidemic and the effort to contain it.

But sources for the site also say AMC has just started work on developing the spinoff, and having it be a prequel could change, even if this is AMC's plan for the series right now.

The spinoff could work as a prequel, but how early are we talking with the zombie virus, and what will the focus be on? Will it be about one of the first cities or town affected by the virus, or the government trying to figure out what the hell is going on? If it is the very first outbreak, will we learn where it came from? I'm not the biggest fan of The Walking Dead, but I do think there is a lot of potential for the spinoff.

AMC is looking to start airing The Walking Dead spinoff sometime in 2015.