After 3 Years, The Walking Dead’s Maggie & Negan Spinoff Fixes Its Biggest Problem
Kyle is a senior writer at ScreenRant and has been part of the team for over two years. Having led coverage on The Walking Dead projects alongside Rick & Morty, Kyle is well versed in numerous genres.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Kyle is a passionate journalist who has a keen interest in TV and film. He has six years of experience studying journalism including a HND in Practical Journalism and a BA Honours in Journalism, Media and Communication and History. Alongside his love for TV and film, Kyle enjoys video games, football and Formula 1.
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, episode 5, "Imperialis."
Maggie and Negan's Walking Dead spinoff has been filled with plenty of highlights, but one major problem prevented it from reaching its full potential, which it has finally fixed three years later. When The Walking Dead: Dead City first started, the premise and location gave viewers plenty of reason to be excited, especially since it centered around two fan favorites.
Having been bitter enemies for so long, seeing Maggie and Negan continue their reluctant alliance in this spinoff was compelling at first, but this dynamic eventually ran its course. Fortunately, The Walking Dead: Dead City dropped Maggie and Negan's feud in season 3, offering a fresh take on their relationship, and it's not the only big fix.
In addition to making the main characters more friendly towards one another, Dead City has also improved its supporting cast by introducing survivors who feel independent. In season 1, Perlie Armstrong was the only non-villain character who had any real substance, yet his story relied heavily on Maggie and Negan.
Season 2 followed a similar trend, as Ginny had a prominent role that helped bring back the real Negan in The Walking Dead, yet she didn't have much going on outside her relationship with her father figure. Other than that, it's only really been the antagonists that stood out until season 3, where there are several compelling newcomers.
Luis, Renata, and Dillard are all great additions who don't need Maggie, Negan, or Hershel to stay relevant, despite having interesting relationships with these characters. The fact that they have their own arcs going on makes the spinoff's cast feel much stronger than the previous installments, proving Dead City has overcome arguably its biggest issue.
Dead City Season 3’s Newcomers Actually Feel Like Main Characters
Unlike in seasons gone by, Dead City season 3 has elevated its new characters to the point that they almost feel as important as Maggie, Negan, and Hershel. Renata has been positioned as the leader of the community she and Maggie have built in New York, and rather than setting up some rivalry between them, the newcomer has been given her own storyline.
In episode 5, we saw her confront Fabian — another new addition to season 3 — for stealing food, as she struggles to maintain order in the group. Naturally, she has shared a lot of screen time with Maggie and Negan since they're the protagonists, but she can also carry parts of the narrative on her own.
Likewise, her brother Luis has also entered main character status, and while his story is much more intertwined with Maggie and Hershel, he has still been given opportunities to shine. Alongside being a compassionate doctor, his deceased wife also gives him a bond with Maggie, with a romance between them being teased.
Luis is also a great father figure and mentor for Hershel, making it clear he isn't just another survivor brought in to be discarded down the line. Finally, Dillard has been a fun addition, as his friendship with Negan and relationship with the dead make him truly one-of-a-kind.
Alongside being a little bit quirky, Dillard has a lot of complexities. He clearly seeks Negan's approval, but is also concerned that his only human companion may judge him for still seeing humanity in walkers. Once again, episode 5 gave him his own spotlight, as he met some like-minded people who seemed to embrace his unorthodox side.
As a result, he may eventually be turned against Negan, especially since the former Saviors leader accidentally killed one of his walker friends. Therefore, Dead City season 3 could make Dillard a villain as the series progresses or present him as an unpredictable wildcard. Either way, just like Renata and Luis, he has earned main character status.
Why Dead City Season 3 Expanding Its Cast Is So Important
It would be easy for The Walking Dead: Dead City to focus solely on Maggie and Negan's changing dynamic as well as how Hershel fits into it all, but expanding the cast into a group of characters we actually care for is crucial for the franchise's future. For as great as The Ones Who Live was, its long-term impact is limited.
Rick and Michonne being back among the main survivors is massive, but any newcomers that could've had a major role going forward were killed in the spinoff. On the other hand, Daryl Dixon has introduced a whole host of characters that could be involved in a crossover show, with Laurent, Ash, Codron, Justina, Roberto, and Antonio all currently alive.
Some may be more fleshed out than others, but it has made the spinoff worthwhile. Dead City had struggled with this up until season 3, but now there are a variety of characters who would be valuable to keep around, as Renata has enough charisma to work well with various other survivors, while Luis' possible romance with Maggie makes his survival essential.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 will consist of eight episodes and premieres every Sunday on AMC/ AMC+.
Dillard would also be a great supporting character, as it would be hilarious to see how the others react to someone so peculiar. If The Walking Dead crossover show does eventually happen, it can't just rely on the same survivors who have been around all these years; otherwise, it'll lose its charm rather quickly.
Instead, having a bigger roster of interesting characters will help keep things fresh, making Dead City's expansion a major relief. Assuming Perlie also comes back, that's at least four survivors who could make the transition from spinoff to a main project, and there is still time for Dead City to add more, especially if it's renewed for a fourth season.
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Maggie Rhee and Negan travel into post-apocalyptic Manhattan, a city isolated from the mainland and overrun by walkers and competing factions. Forced into an uneasy partnership, they pursue a dangerous mission tied to Maggie’s past.
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- Created by
- Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard
- First TV Show
- The Walking Dead
- Latest TV Show
- The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
- Upcoming TV Shows
- More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe
- First Episode Air Date
- October 31, 2010
- Cast
- Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Danai Gurira, Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chandler Riggs, Steven Yeun, Lennie James
The Walking Dead is a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television series The Walking Dead in 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as "walkers." The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.