The Walking Dead universe isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. As announced by AMC during San Diego Comic-Con (via The Hollywood Reporter), two spin-offs within the zombie-filled universe, The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, have already scored season 2 renewals. The early pickups for both shows indicate the network’s dedication to this universe despite the fact that the flagship series ended its run after 11 seasons last year.
The Walking Dead: Dead City stars Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Maggie and Negan, respectively. This very unlikely duo of enemies united in the show to take a trip to New York City, which is radically changed by the zombie apocalypse. The season finale of the six-episode first season airs this upcoming Sunday. As for Daryl Dixon, it stars Norman Reedus as his fan-favorite character and, more impressively, doesn’t even premiere until September. That makes the early season 2 renewal all the more surprising. It’s a pretty sizable show of confidence. AMC also dropped a full-length trailer for that show during SDCC. Check it out.
Even though The Walking Dead shows are nowhere near their all-time high in terms of ratings, audiences still clearly have a great deal of interest in the universe, which is based on Robert Kirkman’s Image Comics series of the same name. It’s also worth pointing out that the network needs subscribe-worthy programming for its streaming service, AMC+. So they're leaning into a franchise that has been a staple for over a decade at this point. AMC president of entertainment Dan McDermott had this to say in a statement:
“This next chapter in the Walking Dead Universe continues to thrive with a terrific inaugural season for Dead City and highly anticipated new journey for fan-favorite character Daryl Dixon coming in September. We can’t wait to bring Dead City fans back to the epicenter of Manhattan for more zip-lining action with Maggie and Negan. And, ahead of its debut, we’re thrilled to double down on Daryl as we bring the apocalypse to France, transforming Notre Dame, Pont du Gard and other iconic locales into an apocalyptic landscape unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
Meanwhile, Fear the Walking Dead is also getting ready to wrap things up after its eight-season run on the network. Other spin-offs that have come and gone include Tales of the Walking Dead and Walking Dead: World Beyond. Also on the horizon will be another limited series that will bring back Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira as Michone titled The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. That show does not currently have a release date set.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premieres September 10 on AMC.
