The Walking Dead’s plans for 2025 aren’t quite as noteworthy as the two years prior, but there’s no sign of this zombie franchise taking a headshot. Over the course of 15 years, Robert Kirkman’s creation has evolved into a veritable juggernaut of television, diversifying into a catalog ofThe Walking Deadspinoffs.Fear The Walking DeadandThe Walking Dead: World Beyondran parallel to the main show, whileTales of the Walking Deadoffered a more unique, standalone flavor.
SinceThe Walking Deadseason 11’s endingin 2022, however, the franchise has been upheld by three newer spinoffs, each starring a duo from the main cast.The Walking Dead: Dead Cityfocused upon Lauren Cohan’s Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan.Daryl Dixonbrought back Norman Reedus as the title character and, eventually, Melissa McBride’s Carol.The Ones Who LivereunitedAndrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimeswith Danai Gurira’s Michonne. Through these three shows,The Walking Deadhas been able to survive after death, and while that rejuvenation will continue in 2025, the landscape looks a little different.
For the first time since the franchise wrapped up its main series,The Walking Deadlooks destined to release no new shows in 2025. The blow ofThe Walking Deadfinishing in 2022 was softened by bothDead CityandDaryl Dixonpremiering the following year. Then, in 2024,Daryl Dixonseason 2 was joined by the highly-anticipatedThe Ones Who Live. In 2025, fans will getThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityseason 2, followed byDaryl Dixonseason 3.
Getting new seasons ofDaryl DixonandDead Citydoesn’t carry the same thrill as getting a new season ofThe Walking Deadused to.
In terms of pure numbers,The Walking Dead’s faithful followers will actually be two episodes richer than in 2024.The Ones Who LiveandDaryl Dixonseason 2 contributed six episodes each, bringing 2024’s total to 12, but AMC has grantedDead Cityseason 2 an eight-episode run, meaning 14 installments ofThe Walking Deadacross 2025. Alas, in terms of actual content, 2025 looks likeThe Walking Dead’s least eventful year for a while.
2022 saw the main show’s series finale and theTales of the Walking Deadpremiere, 2023 gave debuts toDaryl DixonandDead Cityafter endingFear the Walking Dead, and 2024’s return of Rick was a story six years in the making.Dead Cityseason 2 andDaryl Dixonseason 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.
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Granted,Dead CityandDaryl Dixon’s upcoming seasons could be excellent and deliver all manner of surprises. The franchise’s plans at a glance, however, don’t generate the same hype as visiting Europe for the first time, finding outwhat happened to Rick Grimes afterThe Walking Deadseason 9, or taking those tentative initial steps into the noir-ish realm of New York City with Maggie and Negan.
Some might argue thatThe Walking Deadhas simply nestled back into its 2010s groove, when one season ofThe Walking Dead(and later one season ofFear) would drop per year. That comparison doesn’t quite work. As an ensemble show,The Walking Deadwas 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 ofDaryl DixonandDead City, therefore, doesn’t carry the same thrill as getting a new season ofThe Walking Deadused to, and the lack of new shows in 2025 makes that more apparent.
2025’s plans may be set already, butThe Walking Dead’s future beyond that is far less certain.The Ones Who Liveseason 2could happen, but no announcement has been made, andDead Cityseason 3 remains unconfirmed at the time of writing.Daryl Dixon’s showrunnerhas mentioned early plans for a fourth season, but simultaneously stressed that nothing has been green-lit at AMC.Tales of the Walking Deadcould 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.
2010-2022
2015-2023
2020-2021
2022
2023-present
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
2024
Previously,The Walking Deadalways had several plates spinning at any one time, announcing multiple projects way in advance, but franchise boss Scott M. Gimple is now holding one plate in each hand -Dead CityandDaryl Dixon- with no guarantee that he won’t put both down before 2025 is over.While still unlikely, the lack of new shows or seasons in development beyond 2025 does give the impression thatThe Walking Deadcould potentially start winding down sooner rather than later.
The main reason to stay optimistic aboutThe 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 thetimeline ofThe Walking Dead, there are so many avenues unexplored, so many teases unresolved, and so many important character moments yet to materialize.
The end of the main series set up a new villain, Designation 2, which had been working with the Commonwealth before the good guys ousted Pamela Milton and Lance Hornsby. Designation 2 was widely assumed to belong to theCivic Republic Military, butThe Ones Who Liveexplored the CRM fully without ever mentioning Designation 2, implying the existence of a separate enemy lurking in the shadows. Since Designation 2 was allied to the Commonwealth’s prior owners, a ready-made reason for conflict exists.
In terms of character arcs,The Walking Deadwill 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 endingset up a future role for Morgan that still hasn’t led anywhere, while also leaving a door open forFear’s characters to merge into the main show’s cast. Another mystery emerged following Heath’s disappearance inThe Walking Deadseason 7: the presence of a card reading “PPP.” The same card turned up inTales of the Walking Dead, and an explanation has not yet been forthcoming.
World Beyonddropped two major bombshells in its final episode, revealing the possibility of fungi as a solution to the zombie outbreak, then partially explaining the origin ofThe Walking Dead’s zombie virus. The virus' creation, Primrose Team, the existence of natural variants - all of these plot points are waiting patiently to be picked up by a futureThe Walking DeadTV show. Intriguingly, an alternate, unused ending toThe Walking Dead’s series finale involved older versions of Judith and other young characters in the future of the apocalypse, still fighting the good fight against zombies and assorted ne’er-do-wells.
Clearly,The Walking Deadis 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 believeThe Walking Dead’s future remains promising, even without an influx of new shows in the pipeline.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadis a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television seriesThe Walking Deadin 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as “walkers.” The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
