most of the variants have been shown in ,the ones in TWD showed up later much later except the first episode ones,fer had none,so it might be that NY being cut off might not have gotten mutated walkers

Chandler Riggs could play Carl in a tales of walking dead set in comic universe with Madison Lintz  as Sophia

there are 2 ways without screwing canon at all,1 the episode Menagerie was only in Vina's mind,as the Talosians wanted keep her happy ,they made it seem like pikes injured.Pike being alive in tos era would not change anything if he was retired ,or 2 a time loop like DS9's Children Of Time,one enterprise with pike continues with pike ending up in he chair,while other is sent to post Picard season 3 timeline and can start legacy universe with 7 of 9 on one ship pike on another

i do have few suggestions on a way to save him

#1 transporter clone (even if done in series finale ,could flashforward to post picard,maybe parts of ncc 1701 before motion picture refit are in storage including the transporters some notices something stuck in a buffer and its pike)

#2 the biggest kick to canon but could also work without affecting any of the TOS episodes

except The Menagerie ,have the entire Menagerie episode be a illusion created by the Talosions for Vina .Pike is never mentioned in TOS except for in The Menagerie and of course the pilot,him being on Talod IV or having retired or even posted to another ship or a space station would therefore not have any effects on canon