Dead City, an upcoming spinoff of The Walking Dead focused on Maggie and Negan, has been given an April release window. The Walking Dead premiered in 2010, and after 11 seasons, it will be airing its series finale next month. Even as the show is coming to an end, there are several spinoffs in development. In March 2022, AMC announced a spinoff focused on Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), set in zombie-infested New York City. In addition to starring in the show, Cohan and Morgan will also be producing.
The rollout of information about the upcoming spinoff has been a bit messy. While the show was originally called Isle of the Dead, AMC announced that the show was being retitled to Dead City, which some fans found confusing. Additionally, since the show was announced before the conclusion of The Walking Dead, some audiences were upset knowing who was going to be starring in the spinoff, as it essentially spoiled who survives at the end of the mainline series. Regardless of rollout tensions, fans of Maggie and Negan's have been anxiously awaiting a release date announcement for Dead City.
Now, a general release window for The Walking Dead: Dead City has arrived. As announced at New York City Comic-Con, in which Screen Rant was in attendance, the Maggie and Negan-focused spinoff will be released sometime during April 2023. Filming started in New Jersey last month, with The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1 set to consist of just six episodes.
How Dead City Will Be Different Than TWD
Dead City being centered around Maggie and Negan surprised many fans of The Walking Dead. Negan, who joined the show in The Walking Dead season 6, brutally killed Maggie’s husband Glenn (Steven Yeun) and, needless to say, the two are still far from best friends, though Maggie has softened toward him in recent episodes. It's sure to be an interesting change to see how Negan and Maggie get along when they’re forced to spend time together in a new environment, with the new dangers the pair face potentially forcing them to bond in spite of their rocky history.
Another big change is the shift in setting. The Walking Dead was always very rural, with humans and walkers battling it out against a backdrop of wheat fields and windmills. Since The Walking Dead: Dead City is set in New York, the different location is not only going to present new challenges for Maggie and Negan, but is sure to give the show a very different look and feel. As evidenced by the images AMC has released of the show so far, Maggie and Negan's spinoff show is leaning into a dark, grungy, neon aesthetic. Hopefully, the announcement of a release window means more information about Dead City will be coming soon.