The one thing that could be nearly as bad as being torn to shreds by a horde of walkers is not knowing when we'll see walkers take over the small screen again. The fate of The Walking Dead franchise has never been more uncertain. While AMC's Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead universe, Scott M. Gimple, has stated that there are still more post-apocalyptic adventures coming our way, we don't know what they are or when they will be released.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is the only show confirmed to have a new release on the horizon, with the fourth and final season set to hit the small screen in February 2027. Beyond that, the wasteland is completely barren, especially now that spin-offs like Tales of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live are over. The only show that could return for one more season as of now is The Walking Dead: Dead City, and even then, it may take a while before we see more of Maggie and Negan.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 4 may not happen anytime soon, as Lauren Cohan joins the production of Prime Video's Stillwater
Lauren Cohan, known for portraying the role of Maggie Rhee, may not be back in The Walking Dead universe for a while. Recently, it was revealed that Cohan was cast as a series regular in Prime Video's Stillwater TV adaptation, alongside Ben Hardy, Mia Tomlinson, and Mark O'Brien.
Stillwater was ordered for an eight-episode season in July 2026, and there isn't a production start date just yet. If we were to assume the Prime Video series will begin filming in early 2027, then it makes the chances of watching a hypothetical fourth season of The Walking Dead: Dead City next year all the more unlikely. After all, the third season of the zombie spin-off show was released 10 months after principal photography started.
There are multiple factors to take into consideration. For starters, The Walking Dead: Dead City hasn't been officially renewed for a fourth season just yet. Lauren Cohan has stated that there are "outside-the-box" ideas for where Maggie and Negan's story may head next, while Scott M. Gimple feels optimistic about a potential renewal. However, the fact that a fourth season wasn't announced at New York Comic Con certainly raised some eyebrows.
To make matters more complicated, The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 was released to underwhelming viewership numbers on network television. Granted, it's likely that the show performed better on AMC's streaming platform, but those numbers aren't publicly available. Still, if the third season was a massive success, chances are AMC would've fast-tracked a follow-up, which was far from the case.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that AMC has a 16-year uninterrupted record of yearly The Walking Dead releases. The streak will be extended to 17 years in 2027 when The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 comes our way in February. With that in mind, it's likely that the studio will aim to release any subsequent TWD project in 2028—keeping the streak intact and also buying a little more time to decide what's next for the franchise.
Not everything is grim, however. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays the role of Negan, filmed Sterling Point and The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 concurrently for nearly two months. With that in mind, there's still a chance that Lauren Cohan could be part of the production of both Stillwater and a hypothetical fourth season of Dead City early next year. If that were to be the case, then there would still be hope for Maggie and Negan to return to the small screen in 2027, although such a scenario seems unlikely.
With The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon coming to an end in early 2027, it shouldn't be long before AMC gives us more concrete news about what future TWD projects fans should expect to see. In the meantime, it's best to assume Daryl and Carol will be the only post-apocalyptic survivors who will steal the spotlight next year.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 will be released in February 2027.
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