Since The Walking Dead season 11's ending in 2022, however, the franchise has been upheld by three newer spinoffs, each starring a duo from the main cast. The Walking Dead: Dead City focused upon Lauren Cohan's Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan. Daryl Dixon brought back Norman Reedus as the title character and, eventually, Melissa McBride's Carol. The Ones Who Live reunited Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes with Danai Gurira's Michonne. Through these three shows, The Walking Dead has been able to survive after death, and while that rejuvenation will continue in 2025, the landscape looks a little different.
There Will Be No New The Walking Dead Spinoffs In 2025
The Walking Dead Is Playing Back The Hits In 2025
Getting new seasons of Daryl Dixon and Dead City doesn't carry the same thrill as getting a new season of The Walking Dead used to.
2022 saw the main show's series finale and the Tales of the Walking Dead premiere, 2023 gave debuts to Daryl Dixon and Dead City after ending Fear the Walking Dead, and 2024's return of Rick was a story six years in the making. Dead City season 2 and Daryl Dixon season 3 are both exciting releases in their own right, but viewers now know what to expect from those spinoffs. The Walking Dead's 2025 slate is missing the sense of unpredictability that made the past two years exciting.
Some might argue that The Walking Dead has simply nestled back into its 2010s groove, when one season of The Walking Dead (and later one season of Fear) would drop per year. That comparison doesn't quite work. As an ensemble show, The Walking Dead was inherently broad in scope and filled with unexpected turns. With fewer characters and fewer episodes, the franchise's current spinoffs are narrower by design. Getting new seasons of Daryl Dixon and Dead City, therefore, doesn't carry the same thrill as getting a new season of The Walking Dead used to, and the lack of new shows in 2025 makes that more apparent.
The Walking Dead Doesn't Have Much Lined Up
2025's plans may be set already, but The Walking Dead's future beyond that is far less certain. The Ones Who Live season 2 could happen, but no announcement has been made, and Dead City season 3 remains unconfirmed at the time of writing. Daryl Dixon's showrunner has mentioned early plans for a fourth season, but simultaneously stressed that nothing has been green-lit at AMC. Tales of the Walking Dead could make a surprise comeback, or perhaps the reported comedy spinoff will be resurrected, but as the situation stands, The Walking Dead's future looks more sparse than it has for years.
The Walking Dead Still Has Plenty Of Stories To Tell
The main reason to stay optimistic about The Walking Dead's future isn't the number of projects that may or may not be confirmed, but the amount of narrative fuel left in the tank. Looking across the timeline of The Walking Dead, there are so many avenues unexplored, so many teases unresolved, and so many important character moments yet to materialize.
In terms of character arcs, The Walking Dead will not be complete until Rick Grimes and Daryl Dixon reunite, while Norman Reedus' character needs to revolve his simmering romance with Connie too. Fear the Walking Dead's ending set up a future role for Morgan that still hasn't led anywhere, while also leaving a door open for Fear's characters to merge into the main show's cast. Another mystery emerged following Heath's disappearance in The Walking Dead season 7: the presence of a card reading "PPP." The same card turned up in Tales of the Walking Dead, and an explanation has not yet been forthcoming.
Clearly, The Walking Dead is not out of ideas, and simply addressing the dangling threads listed above would give AMC enough material for another five years of content. That alone is reason to believe The Walking Dead's future remains promising, even without an influx of new shows in the pipeline.
