The Walking Dead showrunner previews the future of the franchise

What can we expect from the final 30 episodes of The Walking Dead? What about the Carol-and-Daryl spinoff? Showrunner Angela Kang breaks it down!

Now that The Walking Dead season 10 has finished on a high, it’s time to look forward to the future. There are only 30 episodes remaining, so the end is officially in sight. What can we expect? Showrunner Angela Kang has given us some details of what to expect.

As strange as it sounds, the season 10 “finale” wasn’t actually the end of the season. Early next year we’re getting an additional six episodes, which AMC says will be an “extension of episodes beyond the finale.” Lauren Cohan (Maggie) has already confirmed her involvement, so maybe that could mean we’re going to learn where she’s been since leaving the show in the season 9 episode, “What Comes After.”

Kang tells Deadline that these mysterious six extra episodes will be more character-driven. “It’s been really fun to kind of work on them creatively, although really a challenge, but a challenge I think that has been invigorating for people,” she said.

"We’ll get to see dynamics between Maggie and Negan, we’ll see a lot of story related to Daryl and Carol, and where people have been in the past, which, I think, should be satisfying for fans who have wondered about X, Y, Z moments. Then, you know, the plan is to keep driving forward into Season 11, like while everything is pumping for these six right now. The writers room is hard at work planning the final big arc that will lead to the series end."

I’m really excited to see what happens between Maggie and Negan. Maggie last saw Negan when he was locked up in Alexandria. Fast forward to today, Negan has escaped and decided to help our survivors. How will Maggie react to this?

We also wanna know the story behind Maggie’s new friend, the badass guy in the metal mask. “She has seen some dark things on the road, and obviously, like when she comes in, she’s with this man in like a metal mask, and who is this fellow, what adventures have they been on?” Kang asked. “That’s all part of the story going forward, and it’s going to drive one of the major missions that we’ll start to see unfold. It will lead us to meet some other interesting characters that will cross into some of the other major storylines of our series going forward.”

Image: The Walking Dead/AMC

I’m still hoping they’ll reveal the masked man to be someone we know, but somehow I doubt it. I’m sure we would have heard some rumors by now.

Then there’s Daryl and Carol, who are getting their own spinoff. The season 10 finale ended with them together and wondering what they were going to do next, offering up New Mexico as a possible destination. There’s a chance these extra episodes could offer us a new insight into their relationship, or give them more motivation to run away together.

Sadly, Kang didn’t give us many details on this spinoff, mainly echoing what AMC Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple already told us. “Let me say, though it went public last month, the spinoff is something that has been in the works for a while on and off,” Kang said. “Scott Gimple and I have been working on the early stages of that, and we pitched out what kind of our idea for it was earlier this year.”

Kang has done a great job of rejuvenating The Walking Dead since she took over as showrunner from Scott M. GImple in season 9. Norman Reedus (Daryl) had nothing but praise for her. “Angela was always my favorite writer on the show. When she came on many years ago, my favorite writer for Daryl, my favorite writer in general, and she really had this thing about her where she would listen to the actors and she would get a feel for what those actors felt of their characters. I think she used it to her advantage.”

We don’t know exactly when the next six episodes will premiere, although they’re expected early next year. In the meantime, we can enjoy the spinoff The Walking Dead: World Beyond on AMC.

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