The Walking Dead’s next chapter drops sooner than you think
The Walking Dead: Dead City is back sooner than expected — Season 3 hits AMC and AMC+ at 9 p.m., packing its biggest chapter yet, fresh faces, and a long-awaited power shift between two fan favorites.
If you thought The Walking Dead: Dead City was running out of road, think again. Season 3 is barreling onto AMC very soon, and, frankly, they're throwing just about everything at it—a new showrunner, a mouthy supporting cast, and apparently, zombies with real personalities. Let's get into all the details worth your time.
Season 3: When, Where, and Who's Steering This Thing?
The third chapter kicks off in the US at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, 26 July 2026, airing on both AMC and AMC+, which should make it easy enough to catch if you're still committed. This latest season stretches across eight episodes, running weekly until 13 September. Worth flagging: there's a new sheriff at the helm—Seth Hoffman now running the show, taking over from Eli Jorné. If the name rings a bell, that's because Hoffman worked on the original Walking Dead series, so you can expect a bit of the old flavour.
The Returning (and New) Faces
No surprise that Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan are still front and centre as Negan and Maggie. Their will-they-won't-they-kill-each-other saga continues, with Logan Kim back as Hershel. Gaius Charles and Željko Ivanek are still in the mix, but it’s the newcomers who spice things up:
- Aimee Garcia—arriving as Renata, after previously surviving other genre gigs in Dexter and Lucifer.
- Jimmi Simpson—playing a bar owner called Dillard, who’s convinced he can actually hold a conversation with walkers. Go on, then.
- Raúl Castillo—showing up as Luis.
- Michael Emery—part still under wraps; possibly just 'vague man in corner', but who knows.
Maggie & Negan: Settling Scores
AMC says the Maggie/Negan feud, dragged out over several seasons, is finally coming to a head. About time. Lauren Cohan told Entertainment Weekly:
This is 'the biggest turning over of a new leaf for Maggie and Negan that there’s ever been.' Instead of Maggie twisting Negan’s arm with one of her usual schemes, she actually asks for his help, face to face.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is out there calling this run the 'best season by far', dropping that particular gem at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. Apparently Negan gets more layers than your average onion this series. If you’re holding out for a bit of growth from the show's favourite reformed sociopath, season 3 might deliver.
Setting and the Out-of-Left-Field Stuff
Dead City keeps up its New York cred, featuring everything from the Empire State Building to Grand Central Station. But here's where it gets a bit odd—in a potentially brilliant way. Showrunner Hoffman says there’s an entire episode set in an alternate reality, basically a peek at a world where the apocalypse never happened. That means, theoretically, dead or missing characters could pop back in. There are already some behind-the-scenes photos floating around of Emily Kinney and Lauren Cohan together, so fans of Beth Greene, get ready to speculate wildly.
On top of that, Hoffman teased that the walkers are getting an upgrade: some are given actual names, a touch of backstory, and maybe more individuality than some previous human cast members. Not exactly the regular fare for this franchise.