Star Lauren Cohan has revealed that her return to The Walking Dead has opened up the possibility for a Maggie Rhee spin-off. Serving as an eponymous adaptation to Robert Kirkman's post-apocalyptic comics series, The Walking Dead debuted on AMC in 2010 to an overwhelming viewership. The show chronicled an ensemble cast's quest-for-survival in a zombie-ravaged world while depicting the heroes' various gory encounters with the undead 'Walkers' and rival survivor groups. It has been recently revealed that The Walking Dead will end in 2022 with an extended season 11. And after that, several spin-offs will continue the legacy of the AMC flagship series, expanding its zombie universe into unexplored avenues.
Before The Walking Dead concludes in 2022, the show will return to complete its season 10 next month. The Walking Dead season 10 was due to air its finale on April 12, 2020. But the episode was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it will now air on October 4, 2020, instead. Six additional episodes have also been added to the tenth season to broadcast through early 2021. The Walking Dead season 10 has been primed to feature the return of Lauren Cohan's Maggie Rhee once it resumes broadcast. Cohan's Maggie was previously written out from the series during the early episodes of season 9. After Rick's death, Maggie was revealed to have joined Georgie's group after leaving Hilltop. But now, the last-surviving Greene family member will reunite with her original allies. Cohan will star in all the upcoming season 10 episodes, and she will also feature as a series regular on The Walking Dead's final season 11.
While discussing her return to the acclaimed AMC show on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Cohan teased a spin-off possibility for her character Maggie Rhee. The Walking Dead veteran revealed that she has mixed feelings about The Walking Dead's closure, but she is, at least, pleased that fans have plenty of content to look forward to with the show's extended final season.
“We still have two past years worth of stuff to shoot, so it’s still going to be on television for a significant period,”
She then went ahead to tease a spin-off centered on her character.
“People are so hungry for our whole universe still that it’s sort of exciting because there will be spinoff possibilities… I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that yet.”
When The Walking Dead's closure was announced, AMC quickly set out a press release confirming the development of multiple spin-off series. It was revealed that an untitled Daryl and Carol-focused spin-off would pick up from the series' ultimate episode in 2023, while an anthology spin-off Tales of Walking Dead would showcase stand-alone tales of new and returning characters after the conclusion of the original show. It was subsequently reported that AMC wasn't considering separate spin-offs for Negan and Maggie, although the shows have speculatively been in contemplation for a long time. But Cohan's statements prove that the series creators are moving forward with a Maggie-centric spin-off, despite all rumors about the project being shelved.
Cohan's affirmation about a Maggie Rhee spin-off has created a problem: there are too many The Walking Dead spin-offs in production simultaneously, so it's a bit of a zombie overdose. The Walking Dead already has an ongoing spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead on AMC, and another, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, is due to premiere soon. Then there is a Daryl-Carol spin-off and an episodic anthology that are also in development. While Maggie does offer rich possibilities for more stories, she would be better off as a central cast member in a show that isn't based around her character. And after all, it's unlikely that all planned spin-offs will make the final cut.
Source: Live with Kelly and Ryan