It's been a long run for The Walking Dead franchise. The AMC juggernaut has been thrilling fans for almost two decades now, with no immediate end in sight. Although fans were initially concerned about the TWD Universe's future beyond 2026, we know that at least one of its ongoing spinoffs will return next year. The big question marks right now are in regards to the other one.
The stars of the spinoffs have been a part of the franchise since the earlier days of The Walking Dead, which means all of them have been around and playing these characters for at least 10 years. The majority of them have even been present since the earliest days, appearing in either the first or second seasons and sticking with the world of the TWD saga ever since. That's a long time to play a character, but for one Wlaking Dead star, the potential is still on the table waiting to be explored.
Lauren Cohan reveals Dead City season 4 could be happening after all
TWD star Lauren Cohan recently sat down with People to discuss her return as Maggie Rhee in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3. The spinoff series, which sees former enemies Maggie and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), team up in a bid to bring New York City back from its apocalyptic fate for the next generation of survivors, has yet to be renewed for a fourth season, but Cohan ensures readers that it's possible, telling People that the creative team is already thinking about what's next for the show:
"We have a lot of ideas that are outside the box for another season... If it can surprise Jeff and I, it will surprise the fans... [When] you’ve done a show for 15 years, you’re like, ‘Oh, we’ve done everything.’ No, you haven’t."
Needless to say, this should come as music to fans' ears - especially after multiple reports suggested that the show would end with its third season. While it's not an official confirmation that Dead City season 4 is happening as of yet, it does confirm that there are plans for it. And that's really addressing the big concern that fans have been having about the future of the TWD Universe as a whole.
Fellow Walking Dead spinoff The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is concluding after its upcoming fourth season, which really surprised a lot of people. Arguably the most popular of the new TWD Universe shows, it brought the franchise to new locations as Daryl and Carol Peletier travelled across Europe. However, all involved felt that four seasons would be the right place to end the spinoff. And that raised questions about Dead City and how long it would last for.
With Daryl Dixon season 4 initially set for this year (before being delayed until 2027), it was beginning to look like next year might mark the end for the TWD Universe. At that point, there were no shows confirmed for that year, and that would have marked the end of a 17-year streak in which some form of Walking Dead programming would have aired on AMC. Moving Daryl Dixon's final season to that year has immediately nipped that concern in the bud, but it still didn't answer any questions about whether the cable network planned on ending Dead City.
Cohan's comments suggest that this won't be the case after all, reinforcing the hopes that a fourth season of Dead City might be on the horizon. And, honestly, after the response to season 3, that is exactly what the show deserves right now.
Season 3 is widely regarded as the best season thus far, with fans and critics praising its new, hopeful, and humorous approach to Maggie and Negan's stories. The two longtime enemies have put their differences aside, with Maggie making the hard decision to let go of her anger towards Negan for killing her beloved husband Glenn all those years ago. While a difficult choice, it has unexpectedly breathed new life into the show, with its outside-the-box storytelling being one of the elements being specifically praised by those who have watched it thus far.
Cohan is a fan of the outside-the-box approach, reiterating that as long as the show continues to surprise, she would be down for more seasons from Dead City:
"As long as you can maintain good writing and the ability for people to change, I think the possibilities really are endless."
Here's hoping that the possibilities are indeed endless, because if there are more seasons in the creative minds of Dead City's writing team like this one, then the show has a lot more life left in it than many of us initially thought. And that would be very welcome indeed.
Hearing that Dead City season 4 is still on the table is the vote of confidence in the TWD Universe's future that fans have been waiting for. And we hope that AMC does indeed make it official in the not-too-distant future.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 is currently airing and streaming each Sunday on AMC and AMC+.
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