The Walking Dead franchise is back on our TV screens this summer with the return of spinoff series The Walking Dead: Dead City. It's the third season for the offshoot, which is one of the two last-standing TWD Universe projects on the air right now, and that season has very much given it a lifeline, with critics branding it the best of the series thus far. Meanwhile, the other TWD spinoff, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, returns for its fourth and final season in 2027.
As the Walking Dead franchise ages, fans are growing worried about how much longer it will remain on the air - especially as two of the newer TWDU spinoffs are either winding down or already have. Although Daryl Dixon's final season coming out in 2027 has solved the next year problem, it's unclear what the future for the saga might look like beyond that. It's a good thing that the Walking Dead boss has some answers.
Dead City season 3 was not envisioned as a final season, meaning that a fourth season is likely
There are more plans for The Walking Dead: Dead City beyond its ongoing third season. In a recent interview with Comic Book at San Diego Comic-Con, AMC's Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple, opened about about plans for the future of the show and the franchise as a whole - confirming that they are hoping for a fourth season of the show.
In that interview, he revealed that when they were making the third season of the show, they were "by no means like 'well this is the last piece of Walking Dead content", adding that they are "hoping for a season 4". He also announced that there are other TWD projects in the works and that he thinks there is going to be "a lot of Walking Dead news in the coming weeks".
You can watch the interview below:
Needless to say, this comes as music to the ears of Walking Dead fans. The truth is that, while the three newer spinoffs were designed to give the Walking Dead Universe an extended life after the conclusion of the original series, they always had a somewhat limited lifespan because of how larger-than-life they were in scope and yet restricted in story. While The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live was designed as a one-season miniseries, Daryl Dixon took Daryl and Carol Peletier to France, then the UK, and then Spain - but the goal was always to bring the characters home (which the final season will presumably do). Dead City is in a smiliar boat, but its reinvention may have handed it a lifeline.
The spinoff, which is led by Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, sees foes Maggie Rhee and Negan thrown back into a new danger when they head to New York City to rescue Maggie's son Hershel from some of Negan's old friends. Eternal enemies with a common goal again, it gave them a definitive endgame for their spinoff (rescuing Hershel and leaving New York City) but it found a way to go on. Although season 2 re-treaded similar territory, season 3 has completely cleared the board.
Maggie and Negan are no longer sworn enemies; with their old foes gone, Maggie is helping build back a better New York City for the next generation of survivors. Negan is on hand to help her, and the destructive duo actually manage to do some good together. It's a change of pace, but it's a storyline with long-term potential. These Walking Dead regulars aren't just paying a flying visit to the Big Apple anymore, they are trying to save it.
While it's obviously important to reiterate that Dead City season 4 has not officially been renewed as of yet by AMC, it's wonderful to hear that there are plans for it. Considering how Daryl Dixon's impending conclusion caught a lot of fans by surprise, there was some understandable worry that Dead City would be next as it had the most limited concept of all. But thanks to a season 3 reset by new showrunner Seth Hoffman, it now has the potential to go on for longer than any of its predecessors. And now, the creative team have plans beyond what the series initially started out as.
This comes as Gimple revealed in another interview - this one with The Direct - that, although there might be longer gaps between future TWD installments, the franchise will remain a core part of AMC's programming for years to come. That, perhaps more than anything, is a very reassuring sign that the walkers aren't done with the heroes of this franchise just yet.
The third season of Dead City establishes a new normal for the show. Having quickly despatched of the show's villains - The Croat and The Dama - and their long-standing feud, Maggie and Negan's dynamic is completely different than ever before, with the two former enemies even sharing a laugh every once in a while. Although controversial considering what Negan did Glenn all those years ago, the chemistry between Cohan and Morgan has made it work immensely - with fans praising the show for finally moving on from its past. And if it continues to pull that off, that could very well ensure that it carries on for some time to come.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 is currently airing and streaming each Sunday on AMC and AMC+.
Add us as a preferred source on Google