In 2026, The Walking Dead Universe will enter the most precarious state in its history. With nothing officially planned for 2027, what does the future hold?
The Walking Dead may have ended back in 2022, but AMC’s long-running zombie franchise continues to endure through a slate of spinoff projects. However, these spinoffs are beginning to wind down in 2026. For instance, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will conclude with its fourth season (Norman Reedus has already sent a goodbye message to fans), while Maggie and Negan’s spinoff The Walking Dead: Dead City will return for its third season. Beyond those, AMC has not announced any further additions to the franchise, meaning that until another announcement is made, there’s nothing in the pipeline.
However, this is not to say that AMC has ultimately given up on The Walking Dead. In fact, franchise overseer Scott M. Gimple is very positive about what the future holds. In previous interviews, he has hinted that the spinoffs could converge at some point, essentially bringing back the main show. “The dream would be that these shows somehow converge in some way, narratively,” he said during New York Comic Con in 2023, per Comic Book. As for what would essentially be season 12, he added: “I’m not against it.”
Additionally, he’s also teased that the show’s characters could continue to be explored for another 15 years. “It’s quite possible we could see this group up here 15 years from now,” he told Variety on the show’s fifteenth anniversary. “There are many more continents to visit. It’s about how [the characters] evolve over time. It’s really exciting to see how far we can take this. In a lot of ways, [the locations] give the story to us,” he said.
Even Andrew Lincoln has revealed that there’s a “conversation” being held over his potential return to the series.
Up next for The Walking Dead is Daryl Dixon Season 4. AMC has not set a release date yet, but we expect to get more clarity on its status in the coming months. It will premiere sometime in 2026, and it is already confirmed to be the final season.
Also coming later this year is The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3, continuing the journey of both Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Megan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Right now, we don’t know whether Season 3 will mark the end of the line for Dead City. We’ll have to wait and see whether it gets further renewals. The upcoming season wrapped filming in late 2025/early 2026 and we expect it to take the franchise’s traditional premiere slot in October.
In terms of what the future holds beyond Dead City and Daryl Dixon, nothing is set in stone. But clearly, the team behind the franchise aren’t ready to wave farewell just yet.
What about ‘The Walking Dead’ comics?
On the comic book side of things, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead series is continuing its ongoing full-colour re-release — titled ‘The Walking Dead: Deluxe’ — at Image Comics. It is currently at issue #134. At its current release schedule, this series isn’t expected to wrap until sometime in 2028.
As always, we’ll keep you posted on all the latest news and updates.
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