The Walking Dead cast members reunited earlier this week in New York City during the AMC Upfront presentation. While the main series has come to an end, the zombie universe is only expanding.
Then there’s The Walking Dead: Dead City, starring Lauren Cohan (Maggie) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan); that one premieres in June. Then Norman Reedus will star in a Daryl Dixon spinoff. And next year, Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira will return as Rick and Michonne in their own show. As a day-one fan of The Walking Dead, I am extremely excited about what’s in store.
Daryl Dixon Walking Dead show is “kind of a reset” for Norman Reedus
Reedus, Morgan, and Cohan spoke to ET about the spinoff shows. “It’s kind of a reset for me,” Reedus said. “Everything kind of breathes in a romantic way. We have the backdrop of France, we have the Catacombs, the Eiffel Tower. … The whole vibe is different.”
The Daryl Dixon show will mark the first time a Walking Dead series has taking place entirely in Europe. The closest we got was during the post-credit scene from The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which hinted at something going on in France.
We have no idea what the zombies are like in France. Are they going to be talking? Will they be running? Anything is possible!
Reedus is also a producer on the series, so he has more sway over the story. “When they approached me about a spin-off I was like, ‘I don’t know if I could do 14 years of the same show,’ although I did love that show, but they allowed me to make a righthand turn and head in a different direction,” he said. “I got to kind of do what I wanted to do in a way that I wanted to do it with the people involved.”
Maggie and Negan “aren’t getting married” in new Walking Dead spinoff
We’ve also got Dead City, which will revolve around Maggie and Negan. If you would have told me a few years that Maggie and Negan will have a show together, I would have laughed at you. How far their story has come!
According to Morgan, “Dead City is going to pick up a couple years after we last saw the gang with The Walking Dead. Maggie tracks Negan down, she needs his help — at least that’s the story she’s giving him. We find ourselves in need of going to Manhattan and I think New York City as their backdrop in this world is going to be really special.”
If you’re wondering whether this is leading to a romance, Morgan cleared some things up. “They’re not getting married, you know what I mean? I’ll give that away. It’s tenuous at best. They’re needing each other for a very specific reason. So, Negan has gone back probably a few steps in that redemption arc out of necessity and his survival instincts. It’s going to be a rough road, but going down 5th Avenue is not that bad a road to go down.”
Cohan weighed in as well, saying that this isn’t a typical adventure. “Adventure is probably a little bit misleading. I think that people are very excited and very curious about why these two would be together on a journey, and that’s all going to be delved into in a really interesting, conflict-ridden way, which is always fun to play.”
The Walking Dead: Dead City premieres its first episode on June 18, 2023, at 10 :00 p.m. EST, with the rest of the episodes airing on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. EST. No premiere date has been revealed for the Daryl Dixon series, but we expect it sometime in late 2023.
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