The Walking Dead: World Beyond is having a thrilling second season.
The series has hit its groove with more complex storytelling that is helping to advance the world of the show.
TV Fanatic got the chance to chat with Maximilian Osinski, who plays Dennis.
Since his arrival, Dennis has been an enigmatic figure, but Sunday’s new episode gave us our most significant insight into the character to date.
The actor was attracted to the series because of the franchise’s lore that started with The Walking Dead.
He said he liked that the show was conceived with a two-season run in mind because it gives the writers and creators the space to tell these satisfying arcs.
“As an actor, that’s kind of exciting,” the star said, revealing that the final few seasons of his previous show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were not guaranteed, meaning that everyone was unsure whether the arcs would be fulfilled.
He said that as an actor, not knowing whether the story would end made him question what the final moments of his character would be.
“It’s great to have that closure, and that sense of everything is going to have a meaning. It’s going to drive to an endpoint. And I think that’s really helpful as a writer, as an artist, and as an actor.”
We know Dennis was once in a position of power within the CRM, but now he’s been relegated to finding people who could become fighters.
When I asked Maximilian about his thoughts on whether Dennis could get back to where he once was, he said Dennis was this “golden boy CRM soldier in the past.”
The actor liked that viewers met him at a different point of the character’s life because it means there is a lot to tell.
Maximilian praised showrunner Matt Negrete for being collaborative and telling him where the character came from.
He also said that Dennis is “struggling to bring a new sense of meaning to himself.”
“When he encounters Silas, I think he sees a little bit of that same struggle and doubts that he probably had to deal with. And I think to this day. he is still struggling with when it comes to his wife, Jennifer, aka Huck.”
The episode also shed light on finer details of the character’s past, particularly when he says to take the bottle out of his room.
“I think that hints at some of the demons and the issues he dealt with in the past that he’s trying to now correct and give himself a bigger purpose,” Osinski explained.
“And part of that purpose is training these young recruits at this facility.”
Viewers were shocked to learn about Dennis and Huck’s past, but there’s no telling whether they will find a way to be together.
“Dennis wants it to be possible,” Maximilian teases.
“I think Dennis still loves her and cares about her, and he wants what they had back before she disappeared for two years,” the actor said.
“I think how that works out would be a question I would say to ask Matt so that I don’t get in trouble, but I think them trying to figure it out is almost the more interesting part to watch during the season than whether it happens or not.”
“Stay tuned and keep watching to see how Dennis and Huck try to navigate this new world they find themselves in and trying to piece their lives together while everything around them is happening.”
I also asked Maximilian which character from the entire TWD universe he would like Dennis to cross paths with, and the answer was Rick Grimes.
With Tales of the Walking Dead officially ordered at AMC, anything is possible. Dennis and Rick in the same scene would be a lot of fun!
The Walking Dead: World Beyond continues Sundays at 10 p.m. on AMC. Episodes drop a week earlier on AMC+.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.