The Walking Dead: Dead City trailer Maggie has ‘gone a couple steps back’

AMC has released The Walking Dead: Dead City full-length trailer and fans can really see what this series will entail. It is quite the departure from the wooded setting of the flagship series and sees Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) head to the concrete wasteland of Manhattan. This series picks up about two years after the events of The Walking Dead series finale, and according to Cohan, Maggie had endured more during that time which has caused her to “in many ways gone a couple steps back.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cohan shared some insight into Maggie’s mindset heading into this new series. Dead City is the first direct spinoff of the main series and will continue the stories of the two characters whose original stories began in The Walking Dead. 

Even though Maggie appears to come to terms with her tragic past where Negan is concerned, that doesn’t mean her past won’t come back to haunt her.

"How do you behave when you are literally forced to walk into the mouth of the dragon that killed your family? It’s not even remotely close to forgiveness, but it is finally really tackling the unavoidable issue of grief, and the fact that these characters have been through these crazy traumas and nobody processes anything. – Lauren Cohan"

The Walking Dead: Dead City – Maggie Rhee

Dead City will see Maggie experience another traumatic event in the abduction of her son Hershel (Logan Kim) by The Croat (Željko Ivanek), a man she will discover had previous links to Negan. She will do anything to secure his release including seeking the help of her worse enemy.

According to Morgan:

"She kind of blackmails him into helping. She knows he’s a wanted man, so she’s like, ‘Look, I can help you get away. They’re on your tail, and we can get out of here. You help me save Herschel, and then I won’t turn you in.’ So it’s maybe not starting off on the greatest foot.-Jeffrey Dean Morgan"

Cohan states that Manhattan is the ground zero of the virus, and the government bombed the bridges and tunnels trapping everyone there. Those still alive are very bitter and grouped into different fractions where they live much differently than others on the mainland. “And have had to arm themselves in a way that allows them to make it work.”

This will all be compounded by the fact that Negan is also wanted by another man, Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles). He is the marshal of New Babylon, a federation of city-states in Virginia.

The Walking Dead: Dead City will premiere on AMC on June 18, 2023, at 10 p.m. ET, with subsequent episodes airing at 9:00 p.m. ET.

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