A decade and a half after The Walking Dead first premiered on TV screens, its devoted fans still can't get enough of the franchise. Rick Grimes' days of leading the charge may be over (for now at least) but he did return to help launch the TWD Universe's new era of spinoffs designed to carry on the next generation of the franchise - a generation that might last for a very long time.
The Ones Who Live, which starred Andrew Lincoln's Rick and Danai Gurira's Michonne, may have only been a miniseries, but fellow spinoffs Daryl Dixon and Dead City are ongoing, with new seasons in development. Although the former will conclude with its fourth season, it has yet to be revealed if Dead City will return for more beyond its upcoming third season.
There has been something of a sense of mystery surrounding the TWD Universe shows and when we can expect them to make their returns. The good news is that a recent confirmation has reinforced when one of them will be back.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 confirmed to air in 2026
Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier will return to screens next year. After much anticipation, it has been confirmed that The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 will premiere in 2026, putting to bed any theories that it could be over a year before the show returns.
The confirmation came from production company Valhalla Entertainment, which has produced all of the TWD Universe shows. In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Valhalla celebrates Daryl Dixon's inevitable return in 2026 by recommending that fans watch the first three seasons on AMC+ and the first two on Netflix. Check it out below:
2026 and Season 4 of #DarylDixon will be here before you know it, but until then you can stream all three seasons on @AMCPlus and the first two seasons on @Netflix!#TWDFamily https://t.co/qG1E7LFlRp
— ValhallaEnt (@valhallapics) October 28, 2025
Although the tweet doesn't outright confirm when in 2026 Daryl Dixon season 4 will premiere, it does reiterate that the show will be back on screens next year. Fans were hoping that would be the case as this particular spinoff has kept an annual release strategy of premiering new episodes in September of each year, but there was some reason to be concerned a little.
Fellow TWD spinoff Dead City had an unusually long gap of almost two years between its first and second seasons, which many fans blamed for the less enthusiastic response to season 2 (citing that many of the general audience members had forgotten that it was still on. Moreover, Dead City was also renewed for a third season ahead of Daryl Dixon's fourth season renewal, and that made fans apprehensive about whether that one might end up arriving next year instead.
While there's a pretty large chance of both TWD spinoffs airing their new seasons next year, production on Dead City's third season actually began months after work on Daryl Dixon's fourth began (it had already been quietly renewed by AMC months prior to its official announcement). With that in mind, it's likely that Dead City season 3 would premiere in the second half of the year, which left fans concerned that it might end up in Daryl Dixon's fall slot (as AMC likes to space the two spinoffs out in separate parts of the year).
That could very well be the case, but Valhalla's confirmation that Daryl Dixon's fourth season is coming in 2026 reinforces that Daryl and Carol's adventures will grace our screens next year. Hey, it might even suggest that the show could arrive earlier than usual. After all, if Dead City ends up taking its place in the fall, perhaps it could take Dead City's place in the spring / summer?
Either way, it's a win for TWD fans!