Negan makes a new friend in the first clip from The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3.
AMC released the first extended look at the new season for IGN Live 2026. In the clip, Negan meets Dillard, a new character played by Jimmi Simpson in the third season of the series, which premieres on Sunday, July 26.
In the first two minutes of Dead City season 3 that we've seen so far, Negan visits a bar hosted by Dillard. It's completely empty except for Dillard behind the bar and a couple of conveniently placed walkers to keep Dillard company. He invites Negan in and gives him a drink.
The clip ends with a nice set up for the season by Dillard telling Negan, "Welcome to the bar."
Check out the first two-minute look of The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3.
I don't know about you, but I feel like we're going to get quite acquainted with Dillard and his bar in the new season. We've already seen a few clips of Negan, Dillard, and the ragtag group about to take back Manhattan hanging out in the bar in the teasers that we've seen so far.
In an interview with Bleeding Cool, Seth Hoffman, the showrunner of Dead City, explained a little more about Dillard as a character and what to expect from him this season. Here's what he said:
"Dillard is a character who ingeniously found a way to survive by himself, but there's a psychological cost to having been by yourself for all those years. Renata is a flip side to Maggie, and Dillard is a flip side to Negan."
He also added that Dillard is one of his characters in any season of The Walking Dead franchise. *Nicolas Cage voice* That's high praise.
He's survived the apocalypse all this time by himself? I can't wait to meet this character, and I think many fans will share that sentiment.
Simpson is just one of three stars joining the main cast for Dead City season 3, along with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Michael Emery, Logan Kim, and more. Raul Castillo and Aimee Garcia are the other stars joining the main cast, and they'll be playing Luis and Renata, a brother-sister duo who will likely be helping Maggie and Negan accomplish their new goal of taking back Manhattan, or at least parts of it, from New Babylon.
AMC also shared the synopsis for Dead City season 3:
"Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan as fan-favorite characters “Negan” and “Maggie,” the third season premieres Sunday, July 26 on AMC and AMC+. In season three, Maggie (Cohan) and Negan (Morgan) finally put aside their differences to build the first thriving community in Manhattan since the apocalypse, but when chaos in the city begins to arise, they are forced to question: have they learned from their old wounds or will their dark past spell doom for the entire city?"
We're starting to learn a lot more about Dead City season 3 as we close in on the third season premiere on Sunday, July 26. Expect to see a lot more teasers, trailers, and news about the season throughout the summer.
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