The Walking Dead is coming to an end with its eleventh season and it has been quite the ride. But, as we know, the end of the flagship series that’s been in fans’ hearts for over a decade doesn’t mean this world is done. The show already has had two spinoff series, Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond, on TV. That number is continuing to grow with shows to look forward to in the nearby future. Some of them include key characters we’ve known and loved (or loved to hate) for seasons as well as new faces to meet. And, this roster of Walking Dead spinoffs will continue to expand this world in interesting ways. So, what’s coming next? Let’s dig into what we know so far.
Jump to: Tales of the Walking Dead // The Walking Dead: Dead City // Rick and Michonne Series
A Carol & Daryl Walking Dead Spinoff Becomes a Daryl-Only Show
First, we will start with the one we’ve known about since 2020 but has undergone a surprising change. Carol and Daryl have been the two best friends that anyone can have since season two. And many fans ship the duo together despite both characters having other romances on the series. So the initial idea to give them their own show isn’t a surprise at all. The Carol and Daryl Walking Dead spinoff was supposed to begin production after the flagship show wraps with a release date sometime in 2023. But surprisingly, Variety has confirmed that Melissa McBride, who plays Carol, has now left the show. So it’s going to be a Daryl-only ride, which is wild when you think about it.
Daryl is a character who doesn’t even have a comic book counterpart. However, he’s grown to have just as much of a fandom, if not more, than Rick Grimes himself. If you’re thinking that Carol’s exit means she might die, I wouldn’t bet on it. A Twitter statement by AMC to address backlash about the change affirms that the show is working on a way for fans to follow Carol’s story. Perhaps she will make a guest appearance on a future show or get some miniseries of her own.
The Daryl spinoff will bring on ER’s David Zabel as the showrunner. It will be Zabel’s first time stepping into The Walking Dead‘s universe. But he will have the guidance of Angela Kang, who will be the show’s executive producer. As we know, she’s been helming the flagship series since season nine.
Initially, the show’s premise was Carol and Daryl going on a road trip of some sort. But it isn’t shocking that Daryl will tap back into his loner roots and break out. Maybe The Walking Dead will end with him finding out about Rick, news that would certainly spark his journey. However, this is very curious information considering that this Daryl series will take place in France. Gimple confirmed this during a Walking Dead preview special in August 2022. And boy are there a lot of questions that need answers with that one. Why in the world would Daryl be in France? And how the hell is he going to get there? We will get those answers next year. This will def rank high as one of the must-see Walking Dead spinoffs.
Tales of the Walking Dead
If you’re curious about meeting even more people in this universe, then this is the show for you. Tales of the Walking Dead is a six-episode anthology series told from various times in the apocalypse. For those who have AMC+, the first two episodes will drop with the others coming weekly. We are slowly learning about the plots as it airs and the cast is getting love. Parker Posey, Olivia Munn, Jesse T. Usher, and several others are in this world as new characters. And Alpha makes her return too!
Who else could show up in these episodes? Perhaps a missing person like Heath? These stories also take place in another timeline. Some are in the past (like with Alpha) while others could be in whatever future The Walking Dead ends on… or somewhere in between.
At San Diego Comic-Con, we did get a full trailer to fully see what’s going on with these people. And it includes everything from shady political happenings to “Alpha before she was Alpha” drama. This does confirm that there will be stories going back to the beginning of the apocalypse. Those were the days, right? Tales of the Walking Dead is currently airing.
The Negan and Maggie Spinoff The Walking Dead: Dead City Is Coming
My, how things change. If you told any fan at the beginning of season 11 that Maggie and Negan would have their own six episode adventure together, they would have thought you were a liar. But it is true. The Walking Dead: Dead City is coming in 2023 with Eli Journé, an executive producer and writer on The Walking Dead, as the showrunner for. As you can see, the title went through a change from the previous Isle of the Dead that AMC had been using since around March 2022.
This is very interesting for all the obvious reasons. There’s the ever-looming reality that Maggie will probably always have hate for Negan because, well, he did murder her husband. In brutal fashion. Right in front of her eyes. But they have been learning to deal with each other. And now they are going to head off together to the Big Apple. The duo will hit New York City for some unknown reason. And it will be a chaotic ride, according to Gimple, that includes warring factions, ziplines to get from building to building, and general mayhem. Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, reveals more about what the world is like in Manhattan 12 years after the apocalypse began. (This also answers the ever-present timeline question.)
“It’s going to take place on the island of Manhattan, which was left to the walkers 12 years ago when they overran Manhattan. The government decided to blow all the bridges and tunnels and just leave the island to the walkers. And it’s now 12 years later,” confirms McDermott. “There’s a million-walker herd that’s sort of dominating the streets of Manhattan… Maggie and Negan have to journey onto the island, where there’s a small civilian [faction] that lives in Manhattan … above the 10th floor of all the buildings, and they zipline back and forth above the streets.”
This could possibly lead to them finding out answers about Rick, even though it doesn’t appear they are going there specifically to look for him. We know that Michonne left towards that area to look for Rick back in season 10. So perhaps they will cross paths with her in some way. It would be a great way to geat things up for the Rick and Michonne show. We shall see. Considering this show has a name and more general details, we can assume it will come out before the Daryl series.
Gaius Charles will also join Lauren Cohen and Jeffery Dean Morgan as a lead on the show. According to Deadline:
Charles will play Perlie Armstrong. He’s confident, ruthless, and unyielding in the pursuit of what he believes is justice, with the force of his will and his menace. Perlie enjoys his work and intersperses humor with the terror he incites. This is a family man, devoted to building a safe world for his wife and daughters. His journey unearths a loss he is haunted by. He has patience and resilience and walks rather than runs from his mistakes.
An interesting sounding character, to be sure. And things are moving right along with production for Isle of the Dead. Jeffrey Dean Morgan himself posted a photo of the pilot’s script with “Here we go” in the caption. Morgan previously revealed that the show would film near his family ranch in New York. This is pretty cool considering The Walking Dead stuck to Georgia despite the story taking place in Alexandria, VA for over a decade in-universe.
A Rick and Michonne Walking Dead Spinoff Series
The Walking Dead‘s final panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 gave us the biggest news of all. There will be a Rick and Michonne series to tell their epic story. And, it is coming in 2023. You can read more about the series here but this breakdown will also get you excited:
This series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?
During the Walking Dead preview, Gimple warns us that we will see “Red Machete Rick” again. Remember him? He was the one with the brown murder jacket who was a lot unhinged around seasons five and six. This is probably not a good thing but if anyone can bring him back to normal, it is Michonne.
So there you have it. A lot is happening in The Walking Dead universe and there will surely be more details about these spinoffs as well as new announcements. The show that won hearts is bowing out but there’s plenty left to explore in the land of the dead, so let’s keep walking right towards these spinoffs.
Originally published on April 7, 2022.
