It's safe to say that The Walking Dead has gotten away with a lot over the years. That sentence can be used to describe both the show and the franchise that spawned from it, and it would be incredibly accurate in both situations. The truth is that the TWD Universe has been pushing boundaries since the very beginning and the fans have been along for the ride every step of the way - from Rick Grimes' beginnings to the continued stories through the various spinoffs.
However, the fanbase got quite the shock when the first trailer for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 surfaced online. While it's true that the season does look highly entertaining, it left a lot of longtime fans divided over the direction that the franchise is going in when it comes to the two main characters. And, well, it's hard to argue with that.
Maggie and Negan's apparent friendship in Dead City season 3 results in strong fan responses
AMC has unveiled the first trailer for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 and it looks like an entertaining time. New showrunner Seth Hoffman had previously teased that the show would be moving in a new, more hopeful direction and that is certainly clear from the sneak peek, but the clip has also divided audiences when it comes to Maggie and Negan's potential new chapter as friends / allies.
While this might come as no surprise to viewers who have been watching Dead City since the beginning, the trailer blew up very quickly - gaining over 1.1 million views on YouTube alone in less than a day, meaning that it reached a much wider audience than its core viewership. And that has brought some longtime fans of the franchise back into the fray to comment on the jarring images of Maggie and Negan striking up this potential friendship.
One user left a comment underneath the video, accurately describing how bizarre it was to see these two interact in this way, saying: "I feel awful for Glen[n] seeing this." Another added: "Glenn rolling over in his grave lol". And those are just the beginning, as there are multiple discussions within the comment threads which all pretty much say the same thing.
Walking Dead fans will know that Glenn Rhee was Maggie's beloved husband. The pair were together from the second season of the original series right through until the season 7 premiere, when Negan infamously killed him in violent fashion with his barbed wire bat Lucille - in front of Maggie while she was pregnant with their son Hershel. This prompted Maggie to go on a revenge tour, as she adopted the nickname of "The Widow" and sought to kill Negan at every turn. She came very, very close until Rick stopped the villain once and for all, imprisoning him and preventing Maggie from getting to him.
Eventually, Negan became an uneasy ally of the group after forming a bond with Rick's daughter Judith and protecting her. Maggie ignored him, resisted the urge to kill him and eventually worked alongside him towards a common goal. In the series finale of The Walking Dead, she acknowledged that he as a changed man and appreciated the efforts he had gone to for the group but that she could never forgive him for what he did.
The two resurrected their rivalry in Dead City when fate forced them together again as they had to head into New York City to rescue Hershel from one of Negan's old buddies. While they eventually found common ground and Maggie found a way to reluctantly be civil to Negan, the season 2 finale was the turning point - as she resisted the urge to kill him for the last time, handing him a new version of Lucille and vowing that they would both make Manhattan a better place for the future.
Needless to say, a lot of longtime TWD fans aren't happy with their newfound common ground because, when all is said and done, Negan is still the man who killed Glenn. However, some have argued that Glenn would have been fine with Maggie's decision to work with him because Negan has attempted to redeem himself by being there for both Maggie and their son, Hershel, with one commenting:
"Glenn was a good guy. He would be happy that Negan, the guy that bashed his head, turned from his evil ways and is helping his wife and son survive at all costs."
Points were certainly made here and it's hard to imagine that Glenn would ever argue with any potential scenario that keeps his wife and son safe - even if that scenario involves the man who killed him. But that's a sign of the moral compass that Glenn was - and the complex character growth that the TWD Universe creative team have invested in the Negan character.
All that being said, it is still very strange seeing Maggie and Negan sharing banter with each other. Working together as uneasy allies? Sure, we've come to expect that from the franchise since around 2020, and there is no denying that Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's chemistry makes those fiery scenes between the two extremely compelling. But smirks and jokes between the two longtime rivals? That is a sight that will take some time getting used to.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 premieres on AMC and AMC+ on July 26, 2026.
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