After a thrilling six episodes, Dead City season 1's ending set up an exciting next installment, with Negan being forced to join the fight to control Manhattan, while Maggie returns to the island hoping to end her feud with her former enemy. As a result, the show's return in May will have plenty to unpack, and while there are no early signs of any unexpected cameos, the spinoff's central survivors will be returning. Most interestingly, an undeveloped character looks like they will step up and play a surprisingly big part in the upcoming story, according to season 2's trailer.
It Looks Like Hershel Will Be A Main Character In The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2
Hershel Seems To Be A Central Part Of Dead City Season 2's Story
Having first appeared in season 9, Hershel will officially gain his main character status in Dead City season 2 if the trailers are anything to go by. Throughout his time in the original show, Hershel failed to make much of an impact as he was only a child and wasn't really utilized in the overarching story the same way that Carl and Judith were. Maggie and Negan's spinoff has since changed this, as the entire plot was based around Hershel being abducted, with season 1 taking place in the future, giving audiences an older version of the character.
Despite this, he was kept predominantly on the sidelines since the story focused on Maggie and Negan's attempt to rescue him, rather than Hershel's time in captivity. Now, his role in the plot looks to be much bigger, as season 2's trailer indicated that Maggie's son will join her on their quest to confront Negan. With Maggie and Hershel's relationship looking stronger in Dead City season 2, Hershel will hopefully drop the moody teenager act and begin living up to his father's legacy, but regardless of where his story goes, he will officially become a central character.
Hershel In The TV Show Is Becoming Very Different To The Walking Dead's Comic Hershel
Helping Save Negan Could Make The TV Version Of Hershel Much More Heroic Than His Comic Counterpart
While Maggie and Glenn are two of the most popular characters in The Walking Dead, their son was far from a fan favorite in the comics. After he was born, Maggie kept Hershel sheltered from the rest of the world, spoiling him and ultimately making him unaware of how dangerous zombies really were, which led to him becoming an antagonist in the latter issues. Although his TV counterpart has inherited some of these bratty and hostile traits, Dead City seems like it will make Hershel a completely different character when he attempts to aid Maggie's mission of infiltrating Manhattan.
Season 1 left Maggie's true intent unclear, but it appears as though her return to New York will be based around saving Negan from the show's villains so that they can finally bury the hatchet and move on. With Hershel offering to assist with this, he may become far less cowardly and entitled than in the comics, learning how to become a true survivor instead.
It's not completely out of the question that he follows the same villainous path as in the source material, but season 2's early impressions indicate that no matter what happens to Hershel, he will be vastly different from what we've seen before.
It's not completely out of the question that he follows the same villainous path as in the source material, but season 2's early impressions indicate that no matter what happens to Hershel, he will be vastly different from what we've seen before. If Dead City does opt to make him a hero, it would be a great way to repair Maggie and Negan's relationship and set up the future of the franchise by having another young, dependable survivor join Judith and RJ, proving The Walking Dead still has plenty of life.
