The Walking Dead When Does It Startr Back Again

The Walking Dead spoilers follow.

The Walking Dead is back for its 11th and final season (of the main show anyway), so you can be sure it's going to go out all guns blazing.

At the announcement, Scott Gimple, chief content officer for The Walking Dead, offered some major teases as to what to expect, and how the world will continue to expand beyond Hilltop's walls.

"We have a lot of thrilling story left to tell on TWD, and then this end will be a beginning of more Walking Dead – brand new stories and characters, familiar faces and places, new voices, and new mythologies," he said. "This will be a grand finale that will lead to new premieres. Evolution is upon us. The Walking Dead lives."

AMC

Related: The Walking Dead – the behind-the-scenes drama you probably don't know about

Despite an overall decrease in The Walking Dead's ratings, the zombie apocalypse is clearly far from over – but as the maiden ship prepares to bow out, there's a lot of ground to cover.

Here's everything we know so far.

The Walking Dead season 11 part 3 potential release date: When will it air?

Season 11 is out now after being split into three jam-packed instalments. The first chunk aired from August 2021, with the second segment kicking off on February 20, 2022.

The third and final batch of eight episodes are yet to be given a release date.

If we were to make an educated guess, we'd suggest that the final part of the final season will start airing in October. That's usually been The Walking Dead's premiere month and, even though this is a continuation and not a whole new series, we'd expect it to go out in the same way it began – during the spookiest time of the year.

New episodes drop Sunday nights on AMC in the US, before becoming available on STAR on Disney+ the following Monday in the UK. The Walking Dead season 11 will have 24 episodes in total.

The Walking Dead season 11 part 3 cast: Who's in it?

the walking dead season 9 lauren cohan as maggie

AMC

The final season features some of the regular faces of Alexandria and Hilltop back in action as they continue to adjust to this new, zombie-filled way of life.

This includes: Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos), Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam), Magna (Nadia Hilker), Lydia (Cassady McClincy), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) and Mercer (Michael James Shaw).

After an extended absence, the group saw the return of Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie. Cohan described the news of her return as "completely surreal" at New York Comic Con (via The Hollywood Reporter).

"It feels just like home. It feels so emotional. It feels really, really emotional. I feel like this is a very special Comic-Con and a very special family and I'm really happy to be here."

The Walking Dead season 11 part 3 spoilers: What will happen?

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Angela Kang said: "11B is going to have a pretty different vibe from 11A, which is not unusual for us in a season... there's going to be a really fun thriller vibe to the B block that we've been enjoying writing.

"I don't want to spoil it... but there will be another group that surprises our people. And we are going to get to know the Commonwealth more deeply with our characters. And there are particular ways that that plays out, and there are a number of characters we will meet for the first time."

The official synopsis reads as follows: "Many of our heroes [are] fighting imminent hellfire under Reaper attack while others battle Mother Nature's torrential wrath in Alexandria. For all, their world is literally crashing down around them.

"Meanwhile, life in the Commonwealth is not as idyllic as it seems. For some, hope will be renewed. Others will be pushed past the point of no return. One truth holds tight: Lives hang in the balance with each decision drastically changing their future, their chances of survival and the state of each community."

khary payton as king ezekiel, the walking dead

AMC

Chatting to TVLine, Kang said: "When we start [the final season], we're rockin' and rollin', we're back to being big and scope-y. There's going to be a feeling that things are just ripping along for the first block, then we're going for some different tonal things than we're used to on the show, which hopefully will be fun for the audience."

She added: "As we meet more than one kind of new community, every story will have its own vibe. So some of them may go into types of genres that haven't been really explored on the show before.

"My hope is that it will feel like we're still finding things that are new, even in the final season, but also that we're just moving right along."

She chatted more about the second half of season 11 following the mid-season finale in October, and specifically the unresolved tensions between Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

"We were just really interested from the beginning of the season in telling the story of Maggie and Negan, particularly because when you have two people that have the kind of history that they do," Kang told Deadline.

lauren cohan as maggie, jeffrey dean morgan as negan, the walking dead season 11

AMC

"It just makes for fascinating interactions when you're forced to work with somebody that you don't entirely trust. I just think it gives us like different story telling opportunities, and I think that Negan... he's a character that I really personally have enjoyed writing for, and Jeffrey does an amazing job with the character. He's just one of the characters that you've seen in a variety of places along his journey, but Maggie has changed, too."

There are lots of cliffhangers to be resolved in the final third of the final season, with Judith and Gracie trapped in a flooding basement and Carol, Aaron and Connie caught out in a storm.

Kang had to revise plans for part of season 11 thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, as she explained to Insider in October.

"We had a whole different kind of episode planned for episode eight, and we had to get really realistic about what we could actually accomplish in the storyline," she said. "So it's just been a lot of series of decisions like that, which hopefully are relatively invisible to the audience if they don't know behind-the-scenes.

"It's definitely been different for us. We have to strategize differently. We have to use locations differently to hide our limitations... It is for good reason and so we just, we roll with it, you know, because safety is more important."

Kang also revealed what people should expect in the final episodes of season 11, saying: "There's going to be just some twists and turns and reveals and we always try to keep it scary, too. Hopefully, all of that's there for everyone as we keep on building towards an ending.

"What I'll say is, there are characters such as Daryl that find themselves in situations that are so different in some ways than ones they've been in before," Kang said.

"So they're trying to navigate them in ways that can sometimes be uncomfortable for their characters, because they feel like they knew how the world worked, or what their place was in their group, and they're having to kind of expand beyond their circle.

"I think in a general sense, that's kind of what a lot of our characters, in different ways, are dealing with. And then, of course, there's scares and all the usual fun stuff that we get to do in our show."

Whatever happens in the final episodes, there's a major tonal shift taking place throughout the second half of the season.

"We did the first ten episodes kind of in one direction, and that involved Maggie's story mostly, and us trying to deal with what's going on with that as a group. And then all of a sudden, we did a one-eighty, and now it's kind of like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory all of a sudden," Norman Reedus said (via ComicBook).

"We're all doing The Exorcist right now, all of our heads are spinning in a circle. Yeah, we're all Linda Blair right now. I mean, things go from a black and white western to a technicolor Willy Wonka film like that, and it's crazy.

"[Daryl is] protecting the kids a lot, to be honest, and...he's protecting Maggie a lot," he added. "Maggie's going through a big thing at the beginning of this season, he kind of takes it upon himself to keep an eye on her and be part of that journey."

According to the actor, Daryl's story "turns into a larger fight, which turns into something completely different. But I think he's taking care of people and he's protecting people, but he's also with everybody else kind of protecting [their home]."

The Walking Dead season 11 part 3 trailer: When can I watch?

We don't yet have a teaser trailer for season 11c, but we have got one for 11b which you can enjoy here in the meantime.

Naturally, while there's always a zombie horde or two to fight through, the true conflict comes from within the groups of survivors themselves, with division now more prominent than ever.

In the Commonwealth, governor Pamela Milton is proving to be quite the formidable force, with the return to a 'status quo' before the invasion of walkers being the prime objective... even if that means casting out and shunning those that don't fit in. And Maggie, more than most, is unwilling to live by this new stringent world.

The Walking Dead spinoffs: What's happening?

danai gurira as michonne, the walking dead, season 9, episode 14

Gene Page/AMC

World Beyond and Fear the Walking Dead already exist, and it's also been confirmed that we're getting a Rick Grimes movie with Michonne.

"We're going to be telling stories with Michonne again," Gimple told Collider. "The end of her on the series was, in many ways, the start of the story.

"Movies take a little longer and we're playing with it in all sorts of directions," added Gimple. "And then, the pandemic happened, which gave us the opportunity or the necessity to do that.

"We're still doing that. Andy [Andrew Lincoln] is super involved. [Creator Robert Kirkman] is super involved. It really is proceeding. It's just that current circumstances have given us a little extra time that we seem to need anyways. We really want to do it right."

andrew lincoln, rick grimes, danai gurira, michonne, the walking dead, season 9, episode 1

Jackson Lee Davis AMC

Plus, Gimple and AMC are working on another anthology spin-off series, Tales of the Walking Dead, which will premiere later in 2022. The six-episode series will revolve around a different actor / scenario in each instalment.

In April 2022, it was confirmed that the show will feature the return of Alpha, Samantha Morton's iconic seasons nine and ten villain. The news was welcomed by fans, and – presumably – by Morton, who had a blast shooting the series.

"We just achieved such amazing stuff. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the work we did together blew my mind. Melissa and I, some of the work that we had to do in the series and everybody – Cassidy, and Ryan, and Norman – and I just love everybody so much. Even actors I didn't get to do anything with, you just become family. I just was like, 'Oh, I'm going to miss you all so much.' It was the best job ever," Morton said when she left the series (via EW).

Alpha's arc in the main show had a pretty definitive conclusion (spoiler: she deeead), so the episode will be a flashback. But, considering the fact that some of The Walking Dead's greatest moments came in flashback form (with the Morgan-centric 'Here's Not Here' being the possible highlight of the series as a whole), that's actually great news.

Previously-announced Tales of the Walking Dead cast members include Anthony Edwards, Jillian Bell, Terry Crews, Daniella Pineda, Parker Posey, and Poppy Liu. Whether this series will tie in some way to the back end of The Walking Dead season 11 part three is yet to be seen – but with the eight episodes already doing a lot of heavy lifting (they have to resolve the Commonwealth arc, the show as a whole AND set up half of these spin-offs), we'd say it's unlikely.

"This series, more than any other in the Walking Dead Universe, runs on new voices, perspectives, and ideas — bringing to life stories unlike any we've told before," said Gimple.

eleanor matsuura as yumiko, the walking dead, season 11

AMC

A Carol and Daryl spin-off was also in the works until McBride officially announced that she was stepping down from the offshoot.

Parting ways amicably, an AMC spokesperson paid tribute to her role as Carol in a statement which read:

"Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead universe."

Sources have confirmed to TV Line that the series will now focus on Daryl instead.

The news came as a shock to diehard fans who directed their frustrations towards Reedus via social media.

AMC took to Twitter to respond to the backlash Reedus received following her departure announcement, saying:

"We would like to acknowledge the response to this week's news related to the previously announced Daryl and Carol TWD spinoff. Norman Reedus is being unfairly targeted and attacked in social media for a decision he had no part in.

"Melissa McBride decided she could not participate in the series because relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for her. It is inappropriate to direct negativity and anger at another cast member for a disappointing outcome he had nothing to do with.

"Carol is a beloved and vital character and we are working to find a way for fans to again follow her story, as only Melissa could give life to, in the expanding universe around The Walking Dead. The fans have always been the driving force behind #TWDFamily and always will be."

Fellow castmate, Morgan, was also quick to jump to the actor's defence in a tweet which read:

"Some of you have gone WAY too far. TOXIC. Attacking Norm for crap he has NOTHING to do with? Melissa made a call that was hers alone. She wants/needs a break. Respect that. [There are] factors involved that are nobody's business. Norm, who's given more than anyone to you all. Just SHITTY."

Finally, in March 2022, yet another spin-off was announced – this time Isle of the Dead, focusing on Maggie and Negan.

"It not only adds another compelling series to this collection, it extends our storytelling around two unforgettable characters fans have grown to love, hate or hate and then love in Maggie and Negan, brilliantly inhabited by Lauren and Jeffrey," said Dan McDermott, the President of Entertainment and AMC Studios for the AMC Networks.

"It also lets us explore a corner of this universe located on the island of Manhattan, with an iconic skyline that takes on a very different meaning when viewed through the lens of a zombie apocalypse."

The Walking Dead airs on AMC in the US. UK viewers can catch up on the show on STAR on Disney+ .