The Walking Dead: Dead City has a "good shot" at being renewed for Season 4, according to the franchise's lead and executive producer, Scott M. Gimple. Dead City Season 3 stands as the New York spin-off's highest-rated entry yet on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% critic score, ahead of Season 1's 80% and Season 2's 56%, making it something of a return to form for Maggie and Negan's story. As the season concluded in September, Dead City teased an expansion beyond Manhattan into other New York boroughs for Season 4 after Maggie accepted Negan, her late husband Glenn's killer, as family going forward.
The Direct spoke exclusively with The Walking Dead Chief Content Officer (CCO) Scott M. Gimple at MultiCon 2026, several weeks into Dead City Season 3's eight-week run on AMC and AMC+. The 16-year-old TV franchise's top boss was asked whether Dead City will be renewed for Season 4, to which he called "for everyone to hold out hope" because its viewership and reactions have been stellar:
The Direct: "You mentioned Dead City. Do you think it might end after Season 4, or Season 3? Is it going to end in Season 3?"
Scott M. Gimple: "I would hope for everyone to hold out hope, because it's performing well in the numbers, and people are digging it. So, I think it's got a good shot at it, but it is a different time.
Gimple thought back to a time when he was leading The Walking Dead and could use the ratings to "calculate" how much runway he had, but things have changed in the streaming era, and that is no longer so easy:
"It's incredible. It's unbelievable. I can't even think... It's just such an alien sort of moment in time. When I was showrunning 'Walking Dead', I could calculate, 'Okay, if the ratings halve every year, we have three to four years left.' That's insane.
While the metrics behind a TV renewal are more complex than The Walking Dead's era, Gimple was clear that, whatever happens to Dead City, the larger tale of this post-apocalyptic world "absolutely is going to go on:"
"Now, it's just... The metrics are not as cut-and-dried, and the economics are very different. So, we'll see what happens. But the greater story of 'The Walking Dead' absolutely is going to go on."
Gimple also clarified how The Walking Dead's future will be different in his exclusive talk with The Direct. He revealed that "the rollout will be slightly slower," with less "urgency and speed" in producing new spin-off seasons.
Next up for The Walking Dead franchise is Daryl Dixon Season 4, the conclusion of Norman Reedus' European-set spin-off, which will debut in early 2027. As fans await Dead City's renewal, Daryl Dixon is the last confirmed release on the cards, although a new Walking Dead crossover show is reportedly in the works.
Why It's Time for The Walking Dead's Spin-off Experiment to End
The Walking Dead: Dead City was renewed for Season 2 shortly before the Season 1 finale aired, while the Season 3 announcement came a month after the sophomore outing wrapped up on AMC. If the network maintains its current schedule, news of a Season 4 renewal could be coming soon.
AMC will likely be eager to secure The Walking Dead's future fairly quickly, given that Daryl Dixon's conclusion would leave the network with no confirmed upcoming projects if Dead City isn't renewed for Season 4. Then again, that may all be part of Scott M. Gimple's plans to slow the undead franchise's output.
Many theorized that Dead City would end after four seasons, much like Daryl Dixon, setting the stage for The Walking Dead cast to reunite. Gimple once told The Direct that he hopes to create another "16-hour a year series" in The Walking Dead universe, which could be a revival of the flagship series that brings the spin-off characters back together for a major event.
