AMC Lays Out the Next Phase of The Walking Dead Universe

The Walking Dead may have ended its 11-season run in November, but AMC's flagship franchise is still alive and kicking. At the Television Critics Association 2023 Winter Press Tour on Tuesday, AMC previewed the next phase in The Walking Dead universe, which includes the eighth and final season of Fear the Walking Dead and new spinoff series The Walking Dead: Dead City and Norman Reedus' The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

2023 will be a year of beginnings and endings for the popular zombie drama, as spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead — the first spinoff in the ever-expanding franchise — concludes after eight seasons. The final season will roll out in two six-episode parts, with Part 1 premiering on Sunday, May 14 and the remaining six episodes airing later this year. In Fear The Walking Dead Season 8, Morgan (Lennie James) and Madison (Kim Dickens) find themselves living under PADRE's cynical rule, but in order to reignite the islanders' belief in a better world, they set out to rescue Morgan's daughter Mo (Avaya White). Check out the first clip from Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 below:

As Fear wraps the first half of the season, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan return to the AMC franchise in The Walking Dead: Dead City, premiering in June. The spinoff follows familiar characters Negan (Morgan) and Maggie (Cohan) as they navigate a post-apocalyptic Manhattan that survivors have transformed into a world of anarchy, danger, and terror.

Later this year, the zombie apocalypse arrives in Europe in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, starring Norman Reedus. When Daryl washes ashore in France with no clue how he got there, he must journey across a broken but resilient country in hopes of finding his way home. In addition to Reedus, the spinoff stars Clémence Poésy and Adam Nagaitis.

AMC also provided new details about the forthcoming spinoff centered on Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne. The series will begin production this year, with a premiere slated for 2024.

Beyond The Walking Dead-verse, AMC announced a premiere date for Bob Odenkirk's Lucky Hank (formerly titled Straight Man), in which the Better Call Saul star plays a college English professor in the midst of a mid-life crisis. The drama series, which hails from Aaron Zelman (Silicon Valley) and Paul Lieberstein (The Office), premieres Sunday, March 19.

Also coming down the pipeline is a potential series based on the popular Bannerman spy book series. The Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero has signed on to adapt the books under his overall deal with AMC Networks, with Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) and Brian Witten (Creepshow) joining as collaborators. Author Jeffrey Maxim will serve as a consulting producer throughout the development process.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.