Lauren Cohan opened up about The Walking Dead: Dead City‘s chances of securing a fourth season.
The Walking Dead franchise has expanded with multiple spinoffs like Fear the Walking Dead, World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, Dead City, Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live. Most of them are no longer on the air. Daryl Dixon will end after season 4 next year, leaving just Dead City as the sole Walking Dead show left.
Once the currently-airing third season wraps up next month, AMC executives will have to decide whether to renew The Walking Dead: Dead City or not.
There are no indications yet that season 3 will be its farewell run, and now Cohan, who plays Maggie Greene, has told People that the creative minds behind the show have “a lot of ideas that are outside the box for another season.”
Cohan is not only one of the two leads of The Walking Dead: Dead City, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan, but the two actors also serve as executive producers, so they have some say in the direction of the series. Cohan added that if a potential story idea surprises her and Morgan, then “it will surprise the fans.”
After being a part of The Walking Dead franchise for as long as they have, it’s easy to think they’ve “done everything” when the reality is the complete opposite.
“We have a lot of ideas that are outside the box for another season. If it can surprise Jeff and I, it will surprise the fans. [When] you’ve done a show for 15 years, you’re like, ‘Oh, we’ve done everything.’ No, you haven’t.”
Dead City allowed the franchise to focus on Maggie in a way it’s never done before. Once that evolution developed, then “a whole new world of possibilities suddenly clicks.”
Cohen believes that as long as the writing remains strong and the characters are allowed to keep evolving, “the possibilities really are endless” when it comes to the future of The Walking Dead: Dead City.
“Once you get to know characters in a different way, or once they let a new part of themselves be shown, a whole new world of possibility suddenly clicks. As long as you can maintain good writing and the ability for people to change, I think the possibilities really are endless.”
Neither Cohan nor Morgan was an original cast member on The Walking Dead. Cohan joined the post-apocalyptic drama as a recurring cast member in season 2. Then she became a series regular for most of the remainder of its run, outside of a period when she left following contract negotiation issues.
Morgan joined much later; he made his debut at Negan in season 6. The actor started as a special guest star and then, like Cohan, was promoted to a series regular until The Walking Dead ended in 2022.
Less than a year later, AMC launched its fourth Walking Dead spinoff (following Fear, World Beyond and Tales) that not only reunited Maggie and Negan but also brought them to New York City to carry out their mission of saving Maggie’s son, Hershel.
Their Walking Dead: Dead City co-stars are Gaius Charles, Željko Ivanek, Lisa Emery, Logan Kim, Raúl Castillo, Aimee Garcia and Jimmi Simpson.
After all this time in the Walking Dead universe, Cohan has started to branch out beyond just acting. She directed an episode of Dead City season 2 and is now writing the script for a feature-length film and producing another one.
Even while she’s exploring other creative endeavors in the entertainment industry, Cohan has made it clear that she will gladly return as Maggie if ratings for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 are strong enough to warrant a renewal.
The Walking Dead: Dead City airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC.
- Release Date
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June 15, 2023
- Showrunner
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Eli Jorne, Seth Hoffman
- Directors
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Kevin Dowling, Loren Yaconelli
- Writers
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Brenna Kouf