When the various The Walking Dead series went on hiatus back in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the expectation was that they’d be gone for three to four weeks, they’d pick-up production where they left off, and that the release plans for the series itself would not be delayed.
That obviously changed. Dramatically. The pandemic pushed The Walking Dead‘s tenth season finale so far back that by the time it aired, it was no longer the season finale, and instead of planning for the eleventh season, the producers of The Walking Dead are now planning an endgame for the series, a Carol and Daryl spin-off, an anthology series, and maybe even a The Walking Dead comedy.
The entire The Walking Dead universe has since shifted, but plans are now falling into place for 2021. While we may not get the 40 consecutive episodes that were originally envisioned for 2020, we can expect to see a lot of The Walking Dead this year. By my count, in fact, we should be seeing approximately 40 episodes from the universe, although some may air concurrently. In a video tweeted by the official The Walking Dead Twitter account, AMC laid out their plans.
New Year, new you, new #TWDU. Here’s everything coming up in 2021. pic.twitter.com/0n48cUWpK1
— The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) January 14, 2021
As expected, the final six episodes of The Walking Dead will begin airing on February 28th (along with the return of The Talking Dead). That should take us to the Spring, where the back half of the sixth season of Fear the Walking Dead is expected to air. Things get a little more ambiguous beyond that, except that The World Beyond will return sometime in 2021, while later this year, we should expect to see the first episodes of Season 11 (which will run until the end of 2022), as well as the seventh season of Fear the Walking Dead.
In other words, 2021 will be crammed with The Walking Dead content, and the fact that The World Beyond is airing this year probably also means we’re getting closer to the Rick Grimes movie, which is expected to begin shooting in the Spring.
For now, however, we have the final six episodes of Season 10 (which began back in the fall of 2019) to watch on February 28th, which will include Hilarie Burton Morgan as Lucille.
