The Walking Dead franchise has resurrected itself on streaming in accordance with the universe’s impending return on AMC. On May 14 (even Walkers gotta celebrate Mother’s Day), the franchise’s first spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead, will return to begin its eighth and final season. That move into the sunset follows two seasons of The Walking Dead: The World Beyond, which was meant to lead into the Rick Grimes movies. Those films did not materialize, but AMC is finally moving on a Rick Grimes/Michonne standalone series that will arrive in 2024. We’ll also see the Daryl Dixon spinoff, but before those two offshoots arrive, The Walking Dead: Dead City will be here. Here’s what we know about the show so far.
Release Date
As of now, The Walking Dead: Dead City has no firm release date, but Spring 2023 is the timeframe. We can bet that the six-episode first season will either arrive during the Fear The Walking Dead mid-season hiatus or possibly earlier in an concurrent scenario. The show will air on AMC and stream on AMC+ as well.
Cast
To begin, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are reprising their roles as Maggie Rhees and Negan. Presumably, Daryl Dixon is off in France already or on his way, so don’t expect to see Norman Reedus anytime soon. The same goes, at least during this first season, for Andrew Lincoln’s Rick and Danai Gurira’s Michonne.
However, it’s worth noting that both Morgan and Cohan have dropped hints at how some crossover action should eventually be expected. Specifically, Morgan declared that “the door is open” for overlap between spinoffs “because we are all on the same timeline.” Fingers will be duly crossed for some Rick Grimes action (in a future season?) because he could very well be in Philadelphia (as Comic Book has mentioned), which isn’t too far away from Manhattan, although that enormously metropolitan island is now being treated as even more of an island following the apocalypse.
One thing that we will definitely see: many, many zombie extras. In fact, showrunner Eli Jorne has boldly promised that this series will contain “one of the most awesome, disgusting, terrifying walkers that I’ve seen in the history of the show.” This walker (who “possibly will make you throw up”) will appear among “a number of horrific walkers.” Given what we’ve already seen from this series, god only knows how bad this will be.
Plot
Although it previously seemed unheard of, Negan and Maggie will be the dream team in this spinoff. This New York City mission still seems potentially tense, given that Negan’s entrance into the TWD universe included him murdering Maggie’s husband. However, his redemption arc of yesteryear may still be in motion. Since Maggie will be attempting to track down her and Glenn’s son who has been kidnapped, Negan may be continuing to make things right in this universe.
Don’t expect things to run smoothly, however. The reboot’s official description via AMC does hint at Negan and Maggie’s “tumultuous past” coming back into view:
Years have passed since we last saw Maggie and Negan and they must now form a tenuous alliance in order to accomplish a dangerous mission. Maggie and Negan journey to the island of Manhattan, which, having been isolated since the beginning of the walker apocalypse, has developed its own unique threats.
While in the city, Maggie and Negan encounter native New Yorkers, evade a marshal with a troubled past, and hunt down a notorious killer. But as the pair moves deeper into the gritty depths of the walker-infested city, it becomes apparent that the traumas of their tumultuous past may prove just as great a threat as the dangers of the present.
Trailer
As of now, no trailer has materialized for this spinoff. However, AMC has provided some images that don’t reveal the Walkers but do show an NYC devoid of most humans.
The Walking Dead: Dead City comes to AMC in Spring 2023.