Why The Walking Dead: World Beyond Fans Are Divided On Elton's Suit

AMC's newest addition to The Walking Dead universe, The Walking Dead: World Beyond follows four teens as they leave the safety of their post-apocalyptic home to journey through the dangers of the, well, world beyond. Sisters Iris (Aliyah Royale) and Hope (Alexa Mansour) lead the venture in hopes of finding their father in New York. Since the story takes place ten years after the first zombie rose from the dead, World Beyond sets itself apart from the other two Walking Dead titles by showing the perspective of teens who actually grew up in the post-apocalypse era.

The show's main antagonist, other than the zombies, is the Civic Republic Military, or CRM. The sisters' father is absent and working with CRM at their secret base. However, when the girls receive what appears to be an SOS message from him they decide to strike out past the walls to save him. They take classmates Silas (Hal Cumpston) and Elton (Nicolas Cantu) along for the ride. 

Through a first episode heavy with exposition, many fans latched on to one detail about Elton: his corduroy suit.

In one episode, Elton (Nicolas Cantu) has already earned himself a fun nickname from fans: "Corduroy Boy." The moniker comes from his unmistakable tan corduroy suit, which looks wholly inconvenient for surviving a zombie apocalypse. But that's not the case, says Elton. It's a "TuffyStitch" brand from the '90s, made to be durable so kids can't tear it, and — hopefully — so walkers can't either. Actually, "walker" isn't strictly the appropriate term for the living dead on this series. The teens add a new word to The Walking Dead's army of non-zombie names for zombies: empties.

Elton tells the other teens that he knows it's bite-proof based on "controlled experiments" he's done. It's amusing to imagine him wholeheartedly trying to bite through his own suit, but considering he admitted to regularly sneaking out of their safe zone, there's a good chance he tested it on real zombies. While it may give him a plus-two to bite resistance, it certainly looks like a hindrance to his mobility, which could be deadly in the face of dozens of zombies. In the Reddit episode discussion thread for The Walking Dead: World Beyond, fans had mixed opinions on Elton and his signature suit.

Redditors u/A_Charmandur and u/Crymeabrooks were doubtful of the suit's usefulness, posting, "There is zero chance that suit is bite proof. I've seen zombies tear through football pads and s**t," and, "We see zombies tear people apart, but this kid's magic corduroy suit is going to protect him? Uh, k."

Meanwhile, u/0nlyQuotesMovies was more concerned with the other aspects of the suit putting him in danger: "Its corduroy ... it makes noise when you walk." And since The Walking Dead is known for killing off its characters, fans were already discussing who would go first. Several agreed it would be Corduroy Boy, Elton. However, u/SlimerRocks555 hopes he won't go so soon: "Please no he's the only reason I wanted to watch the show. His actor is hilarious." Redditor u/PlamiAG said he was the best actor out of the four kids and referenced Cantu's role as Gumball on the popular cartoon The Amazing World of Gumball. He's also voiced characters on a variety of other animated series.

User u/SnapesEvilTwin actually liked the quirky suit: "But I thought even some of the minor details were so neat ... That one kid favoring that corduroy material because it was more bite resistant (HELLO, every idiot on TWD going into walker-infested areas wearing a tank top!)" The point of the suit was lost on user u/veganpancake11, who commented: "I thought he was trying to be Bilbo Baggins."

As the teens journey farther into the wilds of Nebraska and beyond, perhaps we'll get to see whether Elton's suit really is bite-proof or not. If not, then hopefully his triceratops-horn weapon will save him from becoming zombie chow. In the meantime, other fans are already spinning theories about the shocking ending of the episode.