The Walking Dead Universe has been a fixture of the television landscape for almost 15 years now. Even the demise of the original series and its very first long-running spinoff haven't been enough to bury this legendary franchise, which continues to entertain its devoted legions of fans around the world with new cinematic spinoffs led by the most popular characters from The Walking Dead itself.
The original show concluded in 2022, but the very next year saw the launches of ongoing spinoffs Dead City and Daryl Dixon. Miniseres The Ones Who Live came in 2024 and reintroduced us to the beloved Rick Grimes and Michonne years after their stories on The Walking Dead were left unresolved. But even now with that story resolved, the universe continues with the other two spinoffs (and potential rumors of more in the future).
So where does The Walking Dead end? Well, one of the franchise's longest-running stars has an idea - one that has been discussed among the creatives (and one that might just line up with what the TWD Universe fans have been hoping for).
TWD's Lauren Cohan shares hopes for the TWD Universe's "Ultimate Finish"
Lauren Cohan has been around the world of The Walking Dead for almost 15 years now and she's still thrilling audiences as Maggie Rhee on Dead City. The spinoff has seen Maggie and her longtime enemy Negan pulled into the chaos of Manhattan as they have now experienced two near-death experiences in New York City. The chaos isn't over yet either, as the pair will return for the recently-announced third season of Dead City, meaning that the adventures will continue for at least another year.
But where could the adventures for this long-running TV franchise end? Cohan has an idea, revealing in an interview with Collider that they have talked about taking all of the TWD franchise's most beloved characters from the original show and finding a way to reunite them all as a "super group".
“We’ve talked about taking these characters to somewhere where they we eventually do all get back together again and there’s some intersection of the super group. I think it would blow people’s minds. It would blow our minds. It would be the ultimate reunion and the ultimate finish.”
It's exciting to know that there have been conversations about reuniting all of the characters at some point because that has definitely been a topic of discussion among fans as well. As great as it has been to see so many of the franchise's main characters cross paths with new threats and enemies outside of Alexandria (or even outside of the US in Daryl Dixon's case), there has always been the concern of how to wrap up the franchise as a whole once those specific stories conclude.
Although Rick and Michonne have finally found their way back to Alexandria after all this time, not all of their loved ones are still there. We know that Maggie and Hershel are currently in New York City with the group's former enemy in Negan, while Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier are currently travelling across Europe (starting in France and now onto Spain and London in the show's third season). Original TWD character Morgan Jones is also on his way back to Alexandria, having departed midway through the eighth and final season of Fear The Walking Dead to head back home to his friends.
With so many reunions on the horizon and the promise of dynamics that fans have never seen (or seen in a long time), there does need to be some kind of group crossover to send The Walking Dead franchise off into the sunset. Morgan needs to find his way home, Rick needs to learn about Negan's redemption, and Daryl needs to reunite with Rick. Heck, the whole group needs to learn that Rick is still alive (although that could have already happened off-screen based on The Ones Who Live's ending).
Before all of that, however, Cohan is focused on telling Maggie's current story in Dead City - one that she feels still has a lot of potential for growth and exploration of the character.
“In terms of how long we spend on our story in Dead City, even things we talk about that could happen in another season, it’s such a new take and a new direction that as long as those things get to keep happening then the story is not done. There’s a big light coming for Maggie, that we have in this long-term arc that’s planned for her. So, I definitely want to stay until the light comes.”
AMC officially renewed The Walking Dead: Dead City for a third season, so we know that Maggie and Negan have at least one more adventure in the Big Apple along with all of the unique characters within it ahead of them. Daryl and Carol will be back for the third season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and a fourth has just started production. So it might be a while before the studio crafts that "super group" finale to cross all of these shows over, but just knowing that it could be on the horizon is more than enough.
Before the world of The Walking Dead bows out, the show's greatest characters should reunite one more time.
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