It's been quite the run for The Walking Dead franchise thus far. The story that first began all the way back in 2010 is still ongoing, with quite a few of the characters who made a name for themselves back then still sticking with the TWD Universe today. Yes, in the grand old year of 2026, there are still two Walking Dead shows on the air (although one is ending in the near-future) and the miniseries to wrap up Rick Grimes and Michonne's arcs aired as recently as two years ago.
When it comes to longevity, few franchises can rival the TWD Universe which, despite some highs and lows along the way, has stood the test of time and survived the ever-changing landscape of television itself. Almost two decades after its premiere, The Walking Dead is more alive than ever, but in order to sustain that life, it is about to enter into a brand new era - one that fans are feeling a little bittersweet about.
2026 marks the beginning of The Walking Dead's less-is-more era
When 2026 began, fans of The Walking Dead were fully expecting new episodes from both TWD Universe spinoffs. The Walking Dead: Dead City was due to return to screens for its third season while fellow offshoot The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon was set to return for its fourth and final season. Both consist of eight episodes, meaning that a total of 16 episodes from the franchise would have aired in 2026 - putting the year's episode output on par with some of the classic days of The Walking Dead.
Unfortunately, the latter was delayed to 2027, leaving just Dead City season 3 to carry the TWD baton through summer 2026. That significantly cut the year's TWD output down to just eight episodes, making it the third-lowest year for the franchise when it comes to episodes (behind 2010's six episodes and 2011's seven episodes). It's also the first year since 2014 that there has only been one single Walking Dead show to air in a calendar year. To put that in perspective, that was the last year that The Walking Dead was the only show in the franchise - the year before it officially launched its first spinoff Fear The Walking Dead.
Since then, there has been some mix of multiple TWD shows on the air. And since the original series ended in 2022, there has been at least two of the three newer spinoffs (along with the final season of Fear in 2023) to air each year. The single, eight-episode season of Dead City to air this year feels pretty small when compared to that.
However, it seems that it will be a sign of things to come. AMC's Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple, has said on multiple occasions now that, while there are indeed plans to continue the TWD Universe franchise in the years ahead, the rollout will be slower going forward. He also said in an interview with The Direct that there likely won't be as many shows on all at once, pointing to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars franchises, which saw the cinematic appeal of both somewhat watered down by overexposure on the small screen.
It's unclear when those "next phase" plans will come to fruition, but the franchise has already given us a glimpse of it in action. Dead City was supposed to be one of two TWD shows to air this year but, somewhere along the line, AMC decided to delay Daryl Dixon's final season until 2027. And, as a result of that, we got one TWD show on our screens this year.
A potential fourth season of Dead City could prevent history from repeating itself, but even if AMC does renew the show for another season it might not necessarily make it to screens before the end of 2027, which would effectively leave Daryl Dixon season 4 as the only TWD show next year (and potentially a Dead City season 4 the only TWD show of 2028).
Yes, yes, we're getting ahead of ourselves now, but there is no denying that the television is changing, and The Walking Dead Universe is changing right along with it. It's just unfortunate that the franchise is pulling back on the spinoffs' rollout when the current, relatively slow (but mostly annual) release format is working for them.
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