Fans of The Walking Dead will never forget those legendary early days of the show's run. They will also never forget when it reached its pop-culture peak throughout the middle of that run, or when it bowed out after 11 seasons. They will never forget the highs and lows that came with it, and the TWD Family that they got as a result of that. Simply put: The Walking Dead fans are committed to the fandom, the show, and the stars who bring their favorite characters to life.
With that in mind, it shouldn't be surprising to learn that the TWD fanbase happily tunes into the programs and movies led by their favorite stars of the show. Yep, just because The Walking Dead is over, that doesn't mean audiences' journeys with the stars from it are. Heck, some of those stars are still playing those roles on the various TWD Universe spinoffs.
With that in mind, here are three major Walking Dead stars' returns to TV that you should check.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan appears in three big shows this summer
Jeffrey Dean Morgan was a legend on both the big and small screens before his stint as Negan in The Walking Dead. Now, he's unstoppable.
That's clearer than ever as the icon will be appearing in three major shows this summer. Two of them are on Prime Video and the first one allows him to return to one of his most gripping modern roles, as he reprises his role as Joe Kessler in The Boys season 5 (which is currently streaming new episodes weekly), acting as "the Devil" on Billy Butcher's shoulder. The other comes in the upcoming Sterling Point, in which he plays the character of Joe. That drama series is set to premiere on the streaming service on August 5.
The big surprise here is that Morgan will also return as Negan earlier than expected, it seems. The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 is now set to arrive in the summer as a June 2026 premiere in France has been confirmed (during which the first two episodes of the season will be aired). AMC is expected to announce an official release date to the wider public soon.
Jon Bernthal returns to the MCU in The Punisher: One Last Kill
Jon Bernthal had his big breakthrough playing Shane Walsh on the first two seasons of The Walking Dead and that was only the beginning of his legendary career. It also led to him portraying another iconic comic book character when he played Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher in the second season of Netflix's Daredevil back in 2016 - before he went on to headline his own spinoff in The Punisher for two seasons. Thanks to revival series Daredevil: Born Again, those aforementioned shows are now canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, setting the stage for Bernthal's return this summer.
Bernthal reprises his role in the upcoming Disney Plus Special Presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill. A 60-minute TV movie focused solely on the violent vigilante, it will delve back into his troubled backstory while also offering up a different flavor from his own Netflix series. And it will likely set the stage for Frank's second return this summer when he appears in the upcoming theatrical release Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
There is no doubt about it that Bernthal's portrayal of Frank Castle is nothing short of compelling, so we can't wait to see him play him all over again.
Andrew Lincoln features in Force Of Nature (as a potential TWD return looms)
Fresh off his return to British TV in ITV's Coldwater in 2025, Andrew Lincoln is sticking with the legendary channel for the upcoming Force of Nature. The Rick Grimes star will be lending his voice to the production, which has been in the works for three years.
A six-part docuseries, it highlights the impacts of extreme weather on various ecosystems, specifically spotlighting chimpanzees in Senegal, Californian sea otters, Caribbean flamingos and Arctic polar bears. It also prioritizes character-led storytelling over the typical documentary approach, focusing on the animal kingdom as they deal with the forces that mother nature throws their way throughout each year. Lincoln serves as the narrator and he has expressed his excitement to be a part of such a project in a statement, saying that it's unlike anything he has ever worked on before.
This will certainly keep Andrew Lincoln fans thrilled as they eagerly await his potential return as Rick Grimes in the TWD Universe. The star confirmed in 2025 that there were discussions about his potential comeback to the franchise so there is an outside chance that he might make a cameo appearance at some point this year in either Dead City or Daryl Dixon's new seasons. If it were to be any, the latter would be the most likely given its placement in the TWD timeline and Daryl's closeness to Rick.
Here's hoping we can add TWD return into the mix of things to expect from Lincoln this year alongside his already-confirmed TV return in Force of Nature.
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