It’s been a great run for The Walking Dead. The show made a surprising announcement on their Twitter page that the 11th season will be the last. However, not all is lost. There will be a fourth TWD series starring Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride. Caryl fans rejoice!

The eleventh season will have 24 episodes instead of the its traditional 16 and will stretch over two years to the end of 2022. The fourth, untitled TWD series and third spin-off should premiere in 2023 with Angela Kang as showrunner. You can read the full press release on Skybound.com. Here’s what Kang had to say about the end of an era. 

“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. 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.” 

There is also talk of another series in the works. AMC is working with Gimple to develop an anthology series, Tales of the Walking Dead. This would give AMC a chance to introduce new characters and explore the backstories of current and past TWD characters. And there’s also the Rick Grimes movies that Gimple assures us he’s working on. 

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead. Vol 1, Issue 1. Courtesy of Image Comics

Based on the comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, the show strayed from comic storylines a lot. The writers stayed as true to the TWD comic as they could in the beginning, but soon started killing characters that made it to the end of the comic story. Carol was one of the characters who died in the beginning of the comic series, but was saved in the television show. She became a fierce and ruthless character who the fans often cheered for.

Daryl isn’t even in the comic book. He wasn’t supposed to make it past one episode. But he did. He and Carol became friends in season two. Many of the fans hoped for a “Caryl” romantic relationship, however the characters made it clear that they are only friends. With this news of a new spinoff, I have to wonder if the creators will explore that possibility. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The Walking Dead season 10 finale will air on October 4, on AMC. 

 

 

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