‘The Strolling Lifeless: Daryl Dixon’ and ‘The E book of Carol’

Initially, the Norman Reedus-led spinoff The Strolling Lifeless: Daryl Dixon was purported to co-star Melissa McBride as Carol, the veritable Sarah Connor of the Strolling Lifeless universe. As an alternative, McBride took time away from the world of the walkers, sitting out of the primary season of Daryl Dixon, save for cameo contributions. Now, not solely did she return for season two, she introduced her very personal title to the title, as AMC formally introduced the sequence’ second yr below the subtitle, The E book of Carol.

The primary season of Daryl Dixon adopted — you guessed it — Daryl Dixon, venturing from America all the best way to France. The sequence leaned into Parisian iconography, together with a combat scene set beside the Eiffel Tower, in addition to a wise use of the Paris Catacombs to delineate this nook of the zombie apocalypse from its American counterpart. Season two’s E book of Carol noticed Carol enter the combination, ostensibly to deliver Daryl dwelling, but in addition to wind up on myriad European jaunts together with her post-apocalypse bestie. (They’ve friendship bracelets. It’s cute!) The second season filmed in Europe as a part of an settlement between the AMC and SAG-AFTRA, and premiered Sept. 29, 2024. Forward of the finale, the sequence was renewed for a 3rd season — with each of them on board — and set to movie in Spain. Right here’s the place the ultimate episode left the long-lasting pair of Walker apocalypse survivalists.

‘The Strolling Lifeless: Lifeless Metropolis’ Season 2

AMC took an enormous swing with its first main Strolling Lifeless successor. Okay, might have phrased that higher, contemplating it’s the present starring baseball bat-wielding unhealthy man (reformed) Negan, performed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and “The Widow” Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan). Archenemies turned reluctant allies, the primary season of The Strolling Lifeless: Lifeless Metropolis targeted on Negan and Maggie journeying throughout Manhattan in a bid to avoid wasting Maggie’s son from a deranged enemy often called The Croat (Zeljko Ivanek, including one more scenery-chewing villain to his spectacular rolodex). 

Lifeless Metropolis was proof of idea that extra life existed inside the Strolling Lifeless universe following the flagship’s ending. Not solely did the drastic change of location serve the sequence properly (even when native New Yorkers might inform simply how a lot was shot throughout the Hudson River in New Jersey), however the resetting of two acquainted faces with historical historical past between them proved a worthy method into a brand new story with outdated roots. The sequence was renewed for a second season in July 2023, with a premiere deliberate for spring 2025.

When selling the present’s return at New York Comedian Con, the celebrities and creatives teased what awaits fan-favorite characters Maggie (Cohan) and Negan (Morgan) as they navigate a post-apocalyptic Manhattan. “Once we got here to do season 11, we knew the [original] present would both go on for 4 extra years and we’d primarily take over the outdated present, or we might go and do that new present, and that will be in New York,” Cohan stated of the seeds of Lifeless Metropolis. “They got here to us each about doing like a Negan present and a Maggie present after which I feel Scott was like, ‘What concerning the two of y’all? All of us thought that that made essentially the most sense as a result of these are two characters that you’d by no means anticipate to even be in the identical room, a lot much less go and do a derivative and need to spend actual time collectively.” 

‘The Strolling Lifeless: The Ones Who Reside’

Alternately often called The Strolling Lifeless: TOWeL (if not by everybody, definitely on my own and my Strolling Lifeless podcast colleagues), The Ones Who Reside facilities the long-awaited reunion between two of essentially the most pivotal gamers in your entire franchise: Rick Grimes and Michonne, the long-lost lovers performed by Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira. Initially designed as a sequence of characteristic movies, Rick and Michonne’s story was retooled for a restricted sequence format and launched in February 2024. The ending (learn spoilers right here) begged the query: the place does the franchise go from right here?

Set after Michonne’s season 10 resolution to depart her group and discover her presumed-dead husband Rick, The Ones Who Reside takes its title from an adage the central characters used to maintain one another afloat in the course of the darkest days of The Strolling Lifeless. They’ve their work minimize out for them in their very own restricted sequence, with the arrival of tv veteran Terry O’Quinn stepping in as an antagonist named Beale. Moreover, Pollyanna McIntosh returns as Jadis, the character who saved Rick’s life and exited him from the present again in season 9; in returning for The Ones Who Reside, Jadis turns into certainly one of solely three primary characters who has appeared in three completely different Strolling Lifeless spinoffs, having additionally appeared in The Strolling Lifeless: World Past. The opposite character she ties with? None aside from Rick himself, in addition to the co-star of one other lively Strolling Lifeless sequence…

‘Worry the Strolling Lifeless’: The Remaining Season

After eight seasons, the Strolling Lifeless franchise’s first spinoff aired six last episodes in 2023 to deliver Worry the Strolling Lifeless to an in depth. The primary half of season eight noticed the departure of Morgan Jones, performed by franchise veteran Lennie James throughout each Worry and the flagship Strolling Lifeless. Together with his story concluded, the ultimate six Worry installments caused an finish the story of Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), the sequence’ unique protagonist, seemingly killed off in season 4, solely to return on the finish of season seven. 

In these last episodes, Madison takes the highlight, with a chance to shut the curtain on the character from co-creator and unique Worry showrunner Dave Erickson’s first three seasons: Madison; daughter Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), whose destiny remained in flux after departing the sequence in season seven); Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades), certainly one of Madison’s solely remaining day one allies; and Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), conspicuously absent within the last run to this point, following a tough pivot towards supervillain standing in season seven.

‘Tales of the Strolling Lifeless’ and ‘Extra Tales From the Strolling Lifeless Universe’

Anthology sequence Tales of the Strolling Lifeless supplied a number of the greatest tales set inside AMC’s zombie universe in years. However the six standalone episodes, airing from August by September 2022, have but to obtain any follow-up motion. With that stated, AMC has introduced a sequence of shorts tentatively (and form of amazingly) titled Extra Tales From the Strolling Lifeless Universe, successfully borrowing the identical premise (and many of the identical title) as Tales. There’s at present no phrase on when to anticipate these shorts, but when certainly one of these episodes doesn’t contain the alternate Strolling Lifeless universe by which Rick Grimes will get a lightsaber and battles aliens (true story), what are we even doing right here?