The Walking Dead Season 11 release date, synopsis, cast and more

Today marks 24 days until The Walking Dead airs the last season premiere of the series. The knowledge that this premiere is so close makes the series ending more of a reality. The first episode is titled “Acheron: Part 1” and will air on AMC on August 22.

Much is expected of the final season of the series that aired its first episode on October 31, 2010. “Days Gone By” was the pilot episode, and many viewers became fans on that night and have stuck with the series since then. During the pilot, viewers met Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and joined him as he discovered a brand new world. Rick woke from his coma to a life he could have never imagined. A world where the dead rise and become the enemy of any living thing.

The Walking Dead is more than just a series. This show has brought people together who would have never have met otherwise. The show draws you in with the zombie theme and keeps you around for the characters and their storylines. Although the current spin-offs will continue and other spin-offs are scheduled, nothing will ever match the flagship series that sparked a fandom into what it is today.

The Walking Dead Season 11 release date

“Acheron: Part 1” will air on AMC on August 22, and AMC+ subscribers will be able to stream this episode one week early on August 15.

Season 11 will be released in 3 parts, each consisting of 8 episodes. As mentioned above, the first part will release in 2021, but release dates for the remaining two parts have yet to be announced. Many of the previous mid-season finales of The Walking Dead have aired in February so that we could see part two in February 2022. With the announcement that The Walking Dead will be at SDCC 2022, which is tentatively set in July, this could mean an August 2022 release of the third and final part of season 11.

The Walking Dead Season 11 synopsis

The initial synopsis for the first episode of season 11 explained that a group returns to Alexandria from a food supply run that wasn’t as successful as hoped. This mission was critical as they have many more mouths to feed since the Hilltop residents and Maggie and The Wardens, have joined them. Lack of food and the fact that Alexandria also needs rebuilding after the Whisperer War has caused desperate times requiring desperate measures to be taken. Maggie has a new plan that could be a suicide mission.

When the group leaves to carry out Maggie’s plan, a storm forces the group underground into a subway tunnel. There they experience relentless terror as they encounter some of what the Wardens went through before heading to Alexandria.

Back in the Commonwealth, Eugene, Ezekiel, Yumiko and Princess are relocated to an undisclosed location.

AMC has an additional synopsis for this episode on its website:

"Daryl leads a mission team to scavenge the military base he discovered. Maggie tells her story, prompting a new mission for survival that only Negan can lead. Eugene and his group go through an assessment by the Commonwealth’s paramilitary police."

The Walking Dead season 11 trailer

Things sound bleak as we start the season, and the official trailer is dark and foreboding, creating many more questions in the viewer’s minds.

I noticed the scene where Daryl is looking over a group of buildings that appears to be the military base referenced in the above synopsis. This answers the question of where the soldier walkers came from that Daryl fought in season 10c.

The trailer also gives us glimpses of the foursome that the Commonwealth captured. We see them in scenes where they no longer seem to be captives. In many of the clips, they are running and fighting off someone while Yumiko is seen in a soldier’s uniform.

The Walking Dead season 11 new cast

There will be some new faces from season 10c that will return in season 11. Cole (James Devoti), Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari ) and Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller) will return, and there is speculation that we could see Leah (Lynn Collins) again as well. Although we have only heard her voice, Margot Bingham will return as Stephanie.

One character will return this season that we haven’t seen much.  Gage (Jackson Pace), who was one of the deviants that attacked Lydia (Cassady McClincy) early in season 10.

Jacob Young will play Deaver and Matthew Lewis is cast as Duncan; both are unknown characters. Glenn Stanton will play Frost, who in the comic is a Commonwealth soldier.  And, C. Thomas Howell will return; in season 9, we saw him as a Hilltop Resident.

Two new cast announcements were released at Comic-Con in July.  Laila Robins will play the Commonwealth Governor, Pamela Milton and Josh Hamilton will play her loyal deputy Governor Lance Hornsby. You can view a promo clip for the Commonwealth at the end of the official trailer that features our first look at Hamilton in his role as Hornsby.

The Walking Dead season 11 will premiere on AMC on August 22. AMC+ subscribers will be able to stream this episode on August 15.

Season 10 is now available on BluRay and DVD and available to stream on Netflix.