The Walking Dead: Dead City spoilers won't be found here.
It's easy to joke that The Walking Dead is essentially undead, trudging on endlessly like one of the 'Walking Dead' themselves. But it's fair to say that Dead City has shuffled in at a unique time for the franchise.
With the original flagship series still barely cold in the ground, Maggie and Negan's highly anticipated spinoff represents the future of The Walking Dead in ways that previous spinoffs did not.
For the first time ever, major players from the main series have been given the spotlight in a bid to continue their stories beyond the twelve seasons that preceded Dead City. Other shows starring Daryl Dixon and Rick Grimes with Michonne are already in the works, but it's the success of this particular spinoff that will guide how fans perceive the future of this world moving forward.
So is there a future for this apocalyptic nightmare or has Negan bashed in the franchise's potential like he did Glenn's flimsy skull?
Dead City starts on the outskirts of New York City looking in, and instantly this change in setting is hugely welcome. The Walking Dead, and even spinoffs like World Beyond, pushed through mostly bland, nondescript areas in the US, so it's nice to see the franchise take more advantage of the fact that this apocalypse is a widespread event, even if we are still stuck in the States.
Beyond the aesthetic, this New York setting also brings with it an entirely new approach to fighting walkers, with ziplines and sewers and skyscrapers all playing key roles in striking new set pieces.
But unfortunately, the story at its core isn't quite as novel.
Dead City kicks off with an anguished Maggie after she's been separated from her son Hershel, who's grown up a bit since the last time we saw him. Inevitably, Negan gets involved, and immediately, we're then thrown back into the endless cycle of hate and forgiveness the pair have sung and danced their way around for plenty of years already on The Walking Dead.
It's easy to see why Maggie and Negan were chosen in particular to spearhead these new spinoffs. Their dynamic was easily one of the most interesting aspects of The Walking Dead in its later years, and the way they're brought together again here doesn't feel too forced, but still, how many times can Maggie hate Negan and betray him only to second guess herself at the last minute?
At least Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are predictably brilliant throughout Dead City, taking this prolonged spotlight and running with it in ways they were never given the chance to on the regular show. They know these characters inside out, yet there's always more nuance to be found, and both actors excel in this regard.
The problem then is with the material itself. No-one expects Maggie to just get over Glenn's death, but maybe it's time that the writers do, or at least take a break from it, because multiple flashbacks to that moment seen again here only dampen the impact of 2016's once-legendary season-seven premiere. How many times do we need to see Steven Yeun's eyeball on the outside of his face?
Other flashbacks are woven in too, new ones that explore more backstory. And here's where the spinoff's roots really come into play, because just like the original, Dead City's pacing and general thrust don't have that urgency you'd expect from a limited six-episode series. Even in the present-day scenes, boredom can set in at points, much like it used to in The Walking Dead's back half.
It doesn't help that the supporting cast is by and large forgettable, aside from a magnetic if slightly caricatured performance from That Guy actor supreme Željko Ivanek.
The Emmy-winning, Tony-nominated star of Heroes, Banshee and more plays a new character here named 'The Croat', who chews the scenery like a zombie would a bowl of fresh brains. And we mean that in a good way, because Ivanek's over-the-top performance is exactly what Dead City needs to pick things up in between the duller moments.
That's not to say Dead City is entirely dead on arrival. A common criticism of The Walking Dead's latter seasons was the lack of creativity that went into zombie set pieces which gradually became few and far between. There are only so many ways you can make a walker scary, it seemed, except Dead City proves that's not actually the case.
Energised by its new setting and concept, Dead City delivers some of the most grotesquely brilliant and truly horrifying zombie attacks ever seen in this franchise. To spoil them here would be more criminal than anything Negan's ever done, but just know that horror fans who might have grown bored of The Walking Dead should absolutely give Dead City a go, even if it doesn't tell the complete story that we were hoping for.
Dead City isn't exactly the game-changer that fans might have been hoping for, but it does prove that there's still some life yet in this franchise. What we're not so sure about is whether that future should include more of Maggie and Negan. As great as they are together, it might be time to lay this fight to rest for good rather than risk trudging it out until there's no life left in it at all.
The Walking Dead aired on AMC in the US and STAR on Disney+ in the UK. Dead City will premiere in the US on June 18. A UK release date is yet to be announced.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
