AMC Networks Announces Final Season of ‘Fear of the Walking Dead’ & Provides Updates Regarding ‘TWD’ Universe Spin-Offs

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’. Photo Courtesy of Emmanuel Guimier/AMC.

It’s been a little while since we settled in to discuss The Walking Dead Universe and understandably so. For the flagship series has been laid to rest and the holidays allowed for us to process that ending and everything it meant to us. But now that the new year is upon us, the time has come to chat about this franchise once again. For while The Walking Dead has come to its end, there are still more shows and stories on the horizon set in this harrowing universe and earlier today, AMC Networks was kind enough to provide fans with a bevy of updates on what we can expect from the TWD Universe in 2023.
 
One of which, was quite the surprise. Since it was announced that the eighth season of Fear the Walking Dead will also be its final season. But while another ending is on the horizon for this franchise, new beginnings await as well since Dead City and Daryl Dixon will debut this year while Rick and Michonne’s story will start production later this year and premiere in 2024. But that is of course, a brief overview of the information provided to the press at the Television Critics’ Association Press Tour, so here are all the details on life in the world of The Walking Dead in 2023, alongside some first-look photos from the final season of Fear the Walking Dead, and a first-look clip to boot, courtesy of AMC Networks.
 
‘AMC Networks announced today premiere timing for four series in The Walking Dead Universe, along with a first look at Fear the Walking Dead’s eighth and final season. Fear will roll out in two six-episode parts, the first of which begins Sunday, May 14 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and AMC+ and return for its final six episodes later this year. New spin-off series The Walking Dead: Dead City, starring Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, will premiere in June followed by The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, led by Norman Reedus, later this year. Additionally, the spin-off starring Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira as beloved TWD characters Rick Grimes and Michonne, will go into production this year and premiere in 2024.  
 
“It’s a truly exciting year for The Walking Dead Universe, as we conclude an epic journey on Fear the Walking Dead, which became one of the most successful shows in the history of cable television. And now we are set to bring forth the next iteration of the franchise - two new and anticipated series featuring the beloved characters of Maggie, Negan and Daryl. Along with that we begin production on the next chapter in Rick and Michonne’s unforgettable love story, which we look forward to sharing next year,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios at AMC Networks. “This next phase of our beloved Walking Dead franchise promises to engage and enthrall faithful viewers. Fans new and old will love seeing zombies walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, beneath the Eiffel Tower, inside the Louvre, and at dozens more exotic and iconic locations from around the country and world.”
 
Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe said, “The Walking Dead Universe LIVES!  To conclude Fear the Walking Dead, we're thrilled to be bringing you one of its most vibrant, inventive, exciting seasons EVER, while breaking new ground with old favorites: Maggie and Negan in the madhouse of post-apocalyptic Manhattan with no one to depend on but each other…Daryl Dixon in France, a loner who cannot move through this new dangerous world alone, facing vicious enemies and never-seen-before threats of the undead. And Rick and Michonne, in a romantic saga of the dangerous road to each other, and the road they must find with each other, cornered by a new civilization and hordes of the dead. Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, showrunner Eli Jorné, Norman Reedus, showrunner David Zabel, Danai Gurira, and Andrew Lincoln are creating heart-wrenching, heart-pounding magic for the next phase of the TWDU!”
 
The eighth season of Fear begins after the conclusion of Season 7, when Morgan’s
(Lennie James) and Madison's (Kim Dickens) hopes to rescue Mo from PADRE
did not go as planned. Now, Morgan, Madison and the others they brought to the island are living under PADRE's cynical rule. With our characters demoralized and dejected, the task of reigniting belief in a better world rests with the person Morgan and Madison set out to rescue in
the first place -- Morgan's daughter, Mo.  Fear the Walking Dead stars James, Dickens, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Austin Amelio, Christine Evangelista, Karen David, Jenna Elfman and Rubén Blades. It is executive produced by Gimple, Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, Michael Satrazemis and David Alpert and is produced by AMC Studios.
 
The Walking Dead: Dead City follows Maggie (Cohan) and Negan (Morgan) traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world full of anarchy, danger, beauty, and terror. In addition to Cohan and Morgan, the series stars Gaius Charles, Zeljko Ivanek, Karina Ortiz, Jonathan Higginbotham and Mahina Napoleon with Gimple, Showrunner Eli Jorné, Cohan, Morgan and Brian Bockrath as executive producers.  
 
In The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Daryl (Reedus) washes ashore in France and struggles to piece together how he got there and why. The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan. The series stars Reedus, Clémence Poésy and Adam Nagaitisand is executive produced by Gimple, Showrunner David Zabel, Reedus, Greg Nicotero, Angela Kang, Brian Bockrath and Daniel Percival.
 
Lincoln and Gurira reunite for a new spinoff series that will finally continue the journey of Rick Grimes and Michonne characters. This series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead... And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they've ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive -- or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead? Gimple serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside Lincoln and Gurira.  
 
About AMC Networks 
AMC Networks (Nasdaq: AMCX) is a global entertainment company known for its popular and critically acclaimed content. Its brands include targeted streaming services AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and the anime focused HIDIVE streaming service, in addition to AMC, BBC AMERICA (operated through a joint venture with BBC Studios), IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, IFC Films and RLJE Films. AMC Studios, the Company’s in-house studio, production and distribution operation, is behind some of the biggest titles and brands known to a global audience, including The Walking Dead, the Anne Rice catalog and the Agatha Christie library.  The Company also operates AMC Networks International, its international programming business, and 25/7 Media, its production services business.'

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First-Look Photos from the Eighth and Final Season of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’

First-Look Clip from the Eighth and Final Season of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’