The Walking Dead Universe was back bloodier and hungrier than ever Friday night at New York Comic Con 2024, thanks to its spinoff shows The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol. It was a celebration of new beginnings and reunions, new cast members and original cast members, along with some exciting sneak peeks.
The night was split up into two panels. Producers and stars of Dead City and Daryl Dixon graced the stage to talk everything about their current seasons, answer some burning questions, thank fans, and share their hopes for the future of the series.
TV Insider was on site to listen in on the conversations and to get you all the information you need to know about these thrilling shows. Read on for a glimpse into the panels and the news that got shared on the main stage — including details about Daryl and Carol’s impending and long-awaited reunion in an upcoming episode of Daryl Dixon.
The Walking Dead: Dead City
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The Season 2 panel moderated by Chris Jericho featured franchise chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, executive producers and legendary talent Jeffery Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan, along with cast members Gaius Charles, Željko Ivanek, and Dascha Polanco. The beginning of the panel started with a 30 second teaser for Season 2, and some photos providing a first look at the new characters.
What can we expect in Dead City Season 2?
After Season 1 ended with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) deciding to return to Manhattan to save Negan, viewers can expect these characters to hash out their history in the upcoming season. Cohan mentioned during the panel that Maggie and Negan grapple with similar themes that involve their pasts. She explained, “The themes in Season 2 that are linked to Negan, wrapped up in the Negan-Maggie dynamic, are really requiring both of them to look at themselves and who they’ve been, and change is possible, and how you have to go through what was to get to what could be. And it is a huge theme of the season that I think we serve very well and delicately in Season 2, and we’re all sort of put in this back of those thoughts. Every character is sort of touched by this process.”
How do Cohan and Morgan see Maggie and Negan this season?
Cohan added she enjoyed the growth Season 2 has given her character, saying “Facing your own demons continually is a strong thing to do, and I like this season because she makes a lot of mistakes, and I think it’s important to represent characters that make a lot of mistakes. And it’s important to continue to represent growth and to try to be representative of things that people really go through.”
In similarity, Morgan talked about Negan’s change, noting, “There’s something to be said for anybody that’s still alive in the apocalypse. The fact that we have survived this long, including Negan, he’s figured it out. It’s meant a lot of different things over the years. He used to be all about in-your-face leadership and fear, but he’s changed. I admire his ability to adapt and read a room. Negan’s been a chess player. This year, he’s maybe not going to be able to do it as much though. I like that he has a soft spot for the younger generation and wants them to survive.”
What was it like for Polanco to enter this universe?
Coming into a season where the cast already knew each other, Polanco explained, “It’s intimidating. But for the most part everyone was very welcoming.” She later added, “It felt like home in the city of Dead City.”
Will we see more Walking Dead characters in future seasons?
Crowd members shouted “yes,” in response to this question, to which Gimple said, “Can you expect it? I mean, you could expect it, I’m not telling you not to expect it. But, you know, it’s a layered universe. So much of the history is important to the present, so it’s gonna be super satisfying when I say this — you never know.”
What was it like for Cohan to direct some episodes this season?
The same reason why she likes to act: working with other actors. Photos were shown to the audience of Cohan in action on set as a director. She said “it requires so much trust and communication. Then when you have those things you can really sail, and I did.”
What was teased about the new characters?
Not much was revealed about Jake Weary, Keir Gilchrist, and Pooya Mohseni. But for Kim Coates, who plays Bruegel, Gimple said, “I will say, Kim Coates is a force of nature. He is hilarious, and he can be scary, and often at the same time. He surprised with every take.” He later added, “It’s an incredible cast. But I will say, Kim is something else — get ready.”
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol
Jason Mendez / Getty Images for ReedPop
The Season 2 panel moderated by Robert Rodriguez featured Gimple, executive producer David Zabel, director and executive producer Greg Nicotero, executive producers and iconic talent Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride, along with cast member Louis Puech Scigliuzzi. As announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon was renewed for another season that is currently filming in Spain.
Will there be easter eggs in Daryl Dixon Season 2?
Yes! Expect more easter eggs from this season. Nicotero even shared a fun easter egg of his that nobody knew about. He talked about how on the show he always likes to include easter eggs to pay ode to zombies in film. In Ash’s barn in Season 2 Episode 1, he explained, “There’s a barrel in the background that has ‘trioxin’ painted on it from Return of the Living Dead. And if you look in the barrel, we actually created the zombie from the opening of Return of the Living Dead that becomes the ‘tar man.’ And that barrels in the background.”
What was it like for Reedus and McBride to be back working together?
The crowd roared with applause when it was announced the first 14 minutes of Episode 4, airing on Sunday, October 20, would be shown in-room. And the crowd only got louder as the clip played, some even sobbing, when it showed the moment Carol (Melissa McBride) finally finds Daryl (Norman Reedus) in France.
Reedus got emotional, tearing up as his voice cracked when he said, “When you see them on screen now, it’s earned. It’s not two actors playing the part of somebody. They’ve known each other, it’s for real. So when we do scenes together, and she tears up, I tear up. The bond is so strong, but you can feel it’s real.”
McBride added onto Reedus’ thoughtful response, saying, “Norman and I don’t do a whole lot of rehearsing or talking about scenes that we’re going to do. We just show up as the character, knowing where we are in the story and letting things happen as we shoot. And that’s what I love about working with Norman. You never know what you’re going to get. And it’s always so fun and wonderful and surprising.”
What was it like filming in France?
The culture and the history played a great role in this season. Nicotero thought they would never be able to shoot there, saying, “A tribune to our producers and the French team. They were able to pull off these locations. Shooting in the catacombs, and you’re standing there, and you’re looking at these stacks and stacks of skulls, there’s nothing more Walking Dead than that.” Reedus talked about the enthusiasm on the set of the France locations, adding, “It felt like the first couple seasons of The Walking Dead.”
What do we know about the rest of the season?
In response to a quote Reedus made to the press about Episode 6, the season finale, being “the best hour of Walking Dead ever,” he explained, “There’s storylines you see come full circle finally, which are some of the things you wanna see, they’re all happening in this episode. And then I saw it, I saw a rough cut of it. And I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, we pulled that off and it’s that good?’ Everybody’s just insane in it. It’s one of the most satisfying hours we’ve seen on the show.”
The panel also had a lot of negative things to say regarding the filming location for the season finale. The undisclosed location was described as claustrophobic and inhospitable multiple times, leaving the audience anticipating what’s going to happen in the final episodes of this season.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
The Walking Dead: Dead City, Season 2 Premiere, Spring 2025, AMC and AMC+