It's almost time for us to return to the world of The Walking Dead once again. What once was a lengthy 16-episode annual trip into an alternate world full of apocalyptic threats has now become two or three shorter annual trips instead. The end of AMC's The Walking Dead in 2022 has paved the way for multiple focused spinoffs to continue telling some of the main characters' stories.
The first of those new stories was The Walking Dead: Dead City, which brought back TWD veterans Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as their respective characters of Maggie and Negan. The two rivals ventured into Manhattan to retrieve Maggie's son Hershel from one of Negan's old friends, and the adventure left things on a cliffhanger, which confirmed more stories were on the way.
Season 2 of Dead City is almost upon us, and it will feature quite the significant change - or perhaps even upgrade - from its predecessor.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 will have more episodes than season 1
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 will consist of eight episodes. That's actually two episodes more than the first season's episode count, and it makes season 2 the longest season of the new wave of TWD Universe shows thus far (The Ones Who Live and both seasons of Daryl Dixon have consisted of six episodes each). Needless to say, that's good news.
Although there hasn't been an official reason given for the extended run, it might have something to do with the extensive wait for the second season to premiere. Dead City's premiere run took place back in June 2023 before Daryl Dixon premiered in the fall. Although both shows received instant renewals, it was the latter that returned first, meaning that the wait for Dead City season 2 has been almost two years.
When we last saw Maggie and Negan in the show's first season finale, the roles had been somewhat reversed if you compare it to how things used to be on the original series. Maggie had successfully managed to engineer a trade that would swap Negan for her son, dooming him to a life of servitude to The Croat and The Dama as Manhattan's new leader, while allowing herself and Hershel to return home. And in spite of all that he had done to her over the years, Maggie couldn't help but feel guilty, partially because she knows that he has changed his ways (and that she had to use some not-so-Maggie ways of trapping him there).
The second season, however, promises something of a twist. Judging by the first look trailer, Negan looks to be coping with his new environment just fine. In fact, he looks to have reverted to his old ways, channelling who he was as the leader of The Saviors to lead the survivors of New York City into a brand new era. He has even brought back Lucille - or, well, at least a new version of her.
Maggie isn't sure that she can trust him and she certainly doesn't like what she sees when she gets there but, as the trailer implies, season 2 is going to be one ambitious rollercoaster as she tries to rescue him from their new enemies... even if it seems like he's enjoying being their performative leader. And given the threats that they will face - and the questions they will be forced to answer - that could explain why season 2 is two episodes longer than the first one. You won't hear us complaining about that - that's for sure!
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 premieres on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, May 4.