The Walking Dead has had many ups and downs over the years. You would expect nothing less from a television franchise that has been on the air for almost 20 years and the devoted fandom has been vocal during that time whenever it stepped out of line. Ironically, the original series and the first spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead, were probably the ones that saw that in action the most.
Whether it was Glenn’s unjustified death and that awfully long Saviors plot that came after that or Fear’s baffling decision to cast aside its fan-favorite leads in favor of TWD’s Morgan, there have been some missteps over the past two decades. And now, the TWD Universe itself could be about to make another.
Dead City seemingly on the verge of cancellation as two stars sign onto other shows
It's looking like The Walking Dead: Dead City may not be returning for a fourth season. Although AMC has not yet made any public announcements regarding the spinoff's future, two of its three main actors have signed onto new projects in recent weeks, with the third already having a second project at the same time.
Series lead Lauren Cohan, who has played Maggie Rhee in both The Walking Dead and Dead City, recently joined the cast of Prime Video's Stillwater in a series regular role. Meanwhile, Logan Kim, who plays her son Hershel on Dead City, has signed onto Netflix's Pagans - where he will, ironically, play the son of Steven Yeun's character after doing so on Dead City (Yeun portrayed Hershel's father Glenn on The Walking Dead before the character's infamous death at the hands of Negan while Maggie was pregnant with their son).
Speaking of Negan, Dead City's other lead Jeffrey Dean Morgan has already been juggling the TWD series with Prime Video's Sterling Point. While his role in the latter was somewhat limited, its season 2 renewal allows for an expanded role going forward. The question is whether he will be able to commit as we await official announcements regarding Dead City's fate.
Now, it's important to once again state that none of this is official. Morgan's double duty on Dead City and Sterling Point is proof that you can star in two TV shows at once - especially in today's day and age of shorter episode counts. But the fact that no official renewal announcement has come over a month has ended - when AMC has said on multiple occasions that it is committed to keeping the TWD franchise around - is troubling, especially as production on that potential fourth season would have to be factored into Morgan, Cohan, and Kim's schedules. Unless, of course, there is no fourth season.
AMC's Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple, recently spoke about the show's prospects of renewal to The Direct and, while he sounded hopeful, fans noted that it was something of a lukewarm response, as he said that he thinks "it's got a good shot at it" but added that "it is a different time" - referring to how the television landscape has changed in the past decade due to the emergence of streaming (which requires less of an urgency for content, with audiences willing to wait for what comes next). His commitment to ensuring that the TWD Universe continues, however, is clear. And that contrast was somewhat striking for fans.
The third season of Dead City received acclaim from fans and critics, with the vast majority of those who watched it calling it a dramatic improvement over the first two seasons. No longer stuck in Maggie and Negan's dark past, the show moved forward as the unlikely allies attempted to save New York from the dead and the living who meant to cause it harm, hoping to preserve it for the next generation of survivors. Although its season 3 finale loosely set up a fourth season, it could actually function as a series finale if it isn't renewed.
If that were the case, Dead City would certainly go out on a high (even if it does deserve a fourth installment), but it would leave the TWD Universe in a less-than-ideal place as its next chapter has yet to be figured out.
The next phase of the TWD Universe has yet to come into focus
The implications of a potential Dead City cancellation would go beyond the show itself. Right now, it's the last Walking Dead show standing that has the potential for more stories. Fellow post-Walking Dead spinoff The Ones Who Live wrapped up after just one season in 2024 while Daryl Dixon is bowing out with its upcoming fourth and final season; it Dead City doesn't return for at least one more season, the amount of current TWD shows plummets from two to zero. And that's not a good place for a 20-year-old franchise.
Think about it: There has been at least one show from this saga airing on AMC since 2010 when The Walking Dead's six-episode first season premiered on the cable network. That show's run continued on until 2022 when it bowed out after 11 seasons, but it wasn't alone as Fear The Walking Dead, World Beyond, and Tales of the Walking Dead all aired new episodes throughout that run too. And then the three newer, sequel spinoffs arrived after that, continuing that story ever since.
Daryl Dixon season 4 was supposed to air this year (it was already wrapping up production at the end of 2025 so it would probably be ready by now) but AMC ultimately chose to push it to February 2027 instead. That keeps the franchise's 17-year streak of regular, annual TWD content alive for at least another year. However, unless they come up with a plan to figure out what the next chapter of the franchise looks like in the near-future, that streak could come to an end in 2028.
The easiest way around this would be renew Dead City for at least one more season. There are more stories to tell in Maggie and Negan's future and, after that monumental rebirth in season 3, it deserves another season to fully explore its newfound potential. If that meant pushing it to 2028 to accomodate Morgan, Cohan, and Kim's other projects, then so be it.
Gimple and AMC are hard at work on planning the next chapter of the TWD Universe. We don't know what it looks like yet, but the TWD boss did say that it would likely be a mix of new shows, standalone projects, and shorter projects too - adding that the rollout would be slower going forward. Norman Reedus is also in talks to return in another capacity after Daryl Dixon's conclusion and all involved are still holding out hope for that TWD reunion / revival / crossover series that would bring back Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne and effectively serve as a twelfth and final season of The Walking Dead. Here's hoping that they can make it work one more time.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 arrives on AMC and AMC+ in February 2027.
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