The Walking Dead Season 11 (2021): Return Date, Cast …

By now, die-hard Walking Dead fans are likely still processing the news that Season 11 will be the popular AMC shows last. Albeit delayed due to the pandemic, the supersized final season will include 24 episodes spanning two years. Here is everything we know thus far about the highly-anticipated final season.

While an exact premiere date has yet to be finalized, the first 12 episodes of Season 11 are set to air in 2021. In the meantime, fans can get their TWD fix with the long-awaited finale of Season 10 airing on October 4 at 9 p.m. ET.

The episode was originally scheduled to air in April but post-production was delayed due to the pandemic. During the shows [emailprotected] panel, series showrunner Angela Kang said that six extra Season 10 episodes will also be aired in 2021 rounding out Season 10 at 22 episodesthe largest season of TWD to date.

Related: What We Know About The Walking Dead: World Beyond

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

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Although The Walking Dead as we know it is coming to an end, the TWD universe is continuing to expand.

The newest spinoff, The Walking Dead: World Beyond will premiere this fall on October 4 at 10 p.m. ET following The Walking Dead Season 10 finale. The franchises first spinoff, Fear the Walking Deads sixth season will begin October 11 at 9 p.m. ET.

AMC also recently announced that The Walking Dead series finale will be followed by two new spinoffs. The first will feature fan favorites Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride), and is set to premiere in 2023. It will be helmed by current showrunner Kang. The second is an episodic anthology with individual episodes or arcs of episodes focused on new or existing characters, backstories or other stand-alone experiences. It is unclear which existing characters will star in this spinoff, but it sounds like we will be seeing more familiar faces.

In addition to the upcoming Rick Grimes movie trilogy, AMC further teased that Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer ofThe Walking Dead Universe, is working on a number of other innovative projects grounded in the walker world. Suffice it to say, like a walker in a helmet, TWD isnt going anywhere (at least not without a fight).

After Season 10, the numbers are dwindling.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be back as Negan and Norman Reedus will also return as Daryl Dixon. Other characters who are still alive include Carol (Melissa McBride), Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos), Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam), Lydia (Cassady McClincy), Magna (Nadia Hilker), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) and others.

Fan-favorite Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) will finally be returning to The Walking Dead for the Season 10 finale and as a series regular in Season 11. Her arrival was teased in the Season 10 finale trailer. In it, she learns by letter of the dire situation back home. She is seen looking at the letter, and then beginning on what we assume is her journey home. For those in need of a quick refresher, we last saw Maggie in Episode 5 of Season 9, which was also Ricks final episode. After Ricks presumed death, she, along with baby Hershel, fled to be on ABCs ill-fated comedy-drama, Whiskey Cavalier. Just kidding. She didnt take baby Hershel with her. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kang promised upcoming episodes will reveal where she has been and what that means for those she left behind.

Season 11 should also give us more intel on newcomer Princess (Paola Lazaro) who entered the Walking Dead universe in perhaps the most memorable yet comical way since Glen Rhee. Princess has been living solo for at least a year and as a result, makes a ton of missteps in an attempt to be liked and accepted by the survivors. It will be interesting to see how her unpredictability spices up the finale.

It was also announced this summer that Margot Bingham will be joining Season 11. Although AMC hasnt confirmed who Bingham will play, it will likely be Stephanie, Eugenes radio-girlfriend who Bingham voiced in Season 10.

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While Season 10 hasnt been as brutal as previous seasons with respect to loss, we did lose a couple of fan favorites. Early in the season we lost Season 9 Massacre survivor, Siddiq (Avi Nash) to Alphas Alexandria spy Dante (Juan Javier Cardenas). Nash beautifully portrayed Siddiqs survivors remorse as he struggled to return to normalcy after witnessing the horrific death of ten survivors. Shortly thereafter, Siddiq was avenged when Dante was murdered in an awesomely unexpected way by Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). Siddiq was not only a close friend to Father Gabriel but the father of his girlfriends (Rosita) child. Darryls budding love interest Connie (Lauren Riddloff) is presumed dead after going missing in a cave avalanche orchestrated by Alpha. Darryl, Carol, Jerry, Kelly and Magna narrowly escaped the trap after Carol led them into the cave in her relentless quest for revenge for her faux-son Henrys Season 9 death. Carol struggled with deep remorse for her actions in the final episodes of the season.

Whisperer Gamma, AKA Mary (Thora Birch), met her inevitable demise to Whisperer Beta (Ryan Hurst) after saving Alden, Kelly and her nephew Adam in a final act of repentance. Speaking of repentance, Alpha, played brilliantly by Samantha Morton, was murdered by Negan (though her head lived on for longer than was comfortable). In the wake of her death, it was revealed that Negans escape and allegiance to the Whisperers was all a brilliant plan devised by Carol to kill Alpha. Unfortunately, Alphas long-awaited death did not end the Whisperers reign of terror. The relentless group is now led by a troubled Beta who Season 10 revealed was a famous country singer pre-apocalypse. Strange but true. And finally, in an act we still cant quite make sense of Michonne (Danai Gurira) left her children (and the show) to go find our missing leader and her apocalypse hubby, Rick Grimes (more on that later).

In the finale, which finally aired Oct. 4, we saw Maggies return and the end of the Whisperer war. Read more about The Walking Deads Season 10 finalein our recap.

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Thus far, the biggest departure of Season 10 has been long-time survivor Michonne. In her final episode, Michonne narrowly escapes after being trapped and drugged by Virgil (Kevin Carroll), TWD universe newcomer who has gone tea-sipping crazy after inadvertently causing the death of his family. In a final episode reminiscent of Ricks, Michonne is visited by the ghosts of Walking Deads past as she imagines life had she not be taken in by the group. Before she returns home with Virgils other hostages, she discovers Ricks boots in an abandoned locker and decides she must go off to find him. She calls Judith to say goodbye and pops on a hooded cape, grabs some new pet walkers, and leaves almost exactly as she arrived. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gurira was reluctant to confirm whether she would be joining Andrew Lincoln in the movie trilogy. However, Gurira did indicate she will be switching gears to a new role as showrunner of HBO Maxs adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Americanah. Hopefully we can also expect more of her in Marvels Avengers franchise.

Not yet! Although Kang has confirmed that the show writers have been working hard remotely since March, Season 11 production is not set to begin until October. AMC CEO Josh Sapan has indicated the company would continue to monitor and adjust plans as needed.

The first 9 seasons of The Walking Dead are available on Netflix. Season 10 is currently available ad-free on AMC.com and on AMC On Demand.

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The Walking Dead Season 11 (2021): Return Date, Cast ...