Despite seeing a huge drop in ratings over its final seasons, The Walking Dead has proven that it still has legs and it is going to shamble on into several new spin-offs in the near future. During AMC Networks upfronts Tuesday in New York, some of the biggest stars of the franchise reunited in order to promote the upcoming slate of limited series coming from the Walking Dead Universe in the coming year.The event saw long-time Walking Dead alum of Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan come together to support their trio of shows coming to AMC that will continue their specific stories from within the zombie apocalypse-ridden world they have called home for, in some cases, over a decade. These series are Dead City, featuring Cohan and Morgan as Maggie and Negan respectively, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which follows Norman Reedus’ title character on a journey to Europe, and the long awaited return of Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne. Check out their reunion as shared by The Walking Dead World’s twitter account below.
The Walking Dead Has “An Exciting Year” Coming Up.
Although the main Walking Dead show has come to an end, it is certainly not going to feel like it with several spin-offs coming and Fear the Walking Dead having its final season to play out. As for the future of the franchise, AMC’s president of entertainment Dan McDermott previously expressed his excitement for the upcoming Walking Dead universe expansion. He said:
"It's a truly exciting year for The Walking Dead Universe, as we conclude an epic journey on Fear the Walking Dead, which became one of the most successful shows in the history of cable television. And now we are set to bring forth the next iteration of the franchise – two new and anticipated series featuring the beloved characters of Maggie, Negan and Daryl. Along with that we begin production on the next chapter in Rick and Michonne's unforgettable love story, which we look forward to sharing next year.
This next phase of our beloved Walking Dead franchise promises to engage and enthrall faithful viewers. Fans new and old will love seeing zombies walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, beneath the Eiffel Tower, inside the Louvre, and at dozens more exotic and iconic locations from around the country and world."
Many fans of The Walking Dead seemed to be getting bored with the show by the end of its run, and for that reason the spin-off shows with their new locations and character focused stories is probably just what the franchise needs to inject some much needed life into it. With each of the new shows putting one or two of the most popular characters at the center of the story, and the newly announced, tentatively titled More Tales of the Walking Dead looking to expand on the “episodic” single story format of Tales of the Walking Dead, it looks like the coming year could be one one of the best the franchise has had for a while.