Today brought the major news that The Walking Dead is officially concluding with its eleventh season. Following six additional episodes of season 10 in early 2021, a super-sized 24-episode season 11 will then follow before the show wraps up for good in 2022. But this is far from the end of the TWD universe, as two new spinoffs have been announced to follow the end of the parent series.
Most importantly, the adventures of two of TWD‘s longest-lasting and most popular characters will continue. The reveal that season 11 will be the last came with confirmation that Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride will return as Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier for their own vehicle that will explore what happens to the duo following the climax of the original show, however that might go down.
The second spinoff in development, meanwhile, is titled Tales of the Walking Dead, an anthology series that will focus on different characters every episode, with its aim being to explore the corners of the TWD franchise that have been left undiscovered. That’s about all we know about that project as yet, but the Daryl/Carol series has already got a showrunner – Angela Kang, who’s been helming the parent series since season 9, will hop over to this production.
Here’s Kang’s statement that came with the announcement:
“I look forward to digging in with our brilliant writers, producers, directors, cast and crew to bring this epic final chapter of Robert Kirkman’s story to life for our fans over the next two years,” Kang said. “The Walking Dead flagship series has been my creative home for a decade and so it’s bittersweet to bring it to an end, but I could not be more excited to be working with Scott Gimple and AMC to develop a new series for Daryl and Carol. Working with Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride has been a highlight of my career and I’m thrilled that we get to keep telling stories together.”
Reedus and McBride have both been with TWD since its very first season, of course. While Daryl was an original creation for TV, Carol was killed off in the comics as early as issue #42, so this spinoff will well and truly go off in its own direction and not be drawn from any source material, much like Fear the Walking Dead before it. It’s also noted that other characters besides these two could get their own vehicles, too, as AMC is looking to keep on expanding the universe.
The Walking Dead returns for its delayed season 10 finale on Sunday, October 4th.
