AMC's The Walking Dead has been a part of the public consciousness for nearly two decades. The legendary franchise kicked off back in 2010, giving life to Robert Kirkman's terrifying comic series, and it has thrilled audiences ever since - managing to even outlast the original series itself (which came to an end in 2022). Since then, it has been all about the spinoffs.
There are currently still two TWD Universe offshoots on the air, with The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon offering up new stories for some of the saga's most beloved characters (miniseries The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live also wrapped up Rick Grimes and Michonne's love story in one season two years ago), and there are set to be more spinoffs in the future. However, this year will bring back a beloved staple the franchise's glory days: 16 episodes of the TWD Universe split directly down the middle.
16 TWD episodes will air this year across both spinoffs
Remember when longer seasons were a thing? Well, the TWD Universe is bringing that back - in a way - this year as 16 episodes of the franchise will air in 2026 . That's right, The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 has eight episodes set to kick off this July before the fourth and final season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon arrives this fall - also bringing eight episodes with it. And with that, TWD fans get to experience a feeling that they haven't been able to in years.
While the franchise has occasionally aired more than 16 episodes in calendar years since 2019 (due to other indirect spinoffs or backlogged pandemic episodes), 16-episode seasons were a staple of The Walking Dead itself for the vast majority of its run - starting in the third season and sticking with it right through to season 9 (both the tenth and eleventh seasons were increased in size, running for 22 and 24 episodes, respectively). It's also become a rarity due to the lack of new shows within the franchise and the shorter-episode counts demanded from modern television.
However, the stars aligned here. Dead City had its standard six-episode count increased to eight for its second, and it has maintained that for its third. Daryl Dixon generally stuck to six, but for season 3 it got an upgraded episode order of seven, while season 4 will reach the full eight. And, with that, we have 16 episodes of the TWD Universe set to air this year. Heck, the fact that they exist across two shows allows the franchise to mimic The Walking Dead's old technique of eight episodes, break, another eight episodes.
Yes, the original series was a big fan of split-seasons, airing the first half of the season later in the year, rounding out that storyline before taking a hiatis. Whenever it returned for the second-round of eight episodes, the storyline would have shifted in a different direction. And, in a way that's what we're going to get from the two spinoffs here.
Dead City season 3 will give us eight uninterrupted episodes of Maggie Rhee and Negan's newest adventures in New York City, as the former enemies attempt to bring Manhattan back from the apocalyptic brink, running from July through September. There will undoubtedly be a short break before Daryl Dixon season 4 showcases another area of the TWD Universe, giving us an insight into how Daryl and Carol Peletier's stories will conclude in the long-awaited final season.
It's the little things that count and it goes without saying that having 16 episodes of the Walking Dead franchise - split across two completely separate storylines - at a time when longer seasons just aren't a thing anymore counts a great deal to the TWD Family. And considering that Daryl Dixon will conclude this year, it might just be the last time fans can experience that.
We're all thankful to be able to experience that at least one more time!
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 premieres on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, July 26 2026. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 subsequently premieres in the fall.
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