The Walking Dead Is Officially Changing Maggie After 10 Years

After 10 years, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is undergoing a major change in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3.

In 2016, Maggie was forever changed when she watched the love of her life, Glenn (Steven Yeun), be brutally beaten to death by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in The Walking Dead season 7 premiere. Since then, she has been largely driven by grieving Glenn’s death and hating Negan in both the flagship series and in the Dead City spinoff.

At the Monte-Carlo Film Festival (via Variety), where the first two episodes of Dead City season 3 were shown, Cohan and Morgan discussed how, for the first time since Glenn’s death, Maggie is no longer defined by her grief or hatred. Maggie and Negan are now genuine allies, and it is because she realized she needed to change for her son, Hershel (Logan Kim). Check out Morgan and Cohan’s comments below:

Jeffrey Dean Morgan: We played as much hate as we could over the last 10 years. Now, we have known each other longer than anyone else alive. To survive, they need each other, and that was a big revelation. To see Maggie smile was so nice – haven’t seen it in 10 years!

To have scenes that have genuine meaning and depth, it was amazing. We got to see new sides of each other. She didn’t even stab me one time!

Lauren Cohan: This is really the first year when Maggie recognizes that to be defined by grief doesn’t serve her anymore. It started in Season 2 with her son – she knew that something had to change, which was very uncomfortable. There’s something bigger: a bigger purpose.

We are these unlikely allies that realize how much they can rely on each other and how much they know each other. The irony of their relationship, with how they met, is interesting.

By the time of The Walking Dead series finale, Maggie and Negan seem to have found some closure, but it is short-lived as she goes on to ruthlessly betray Negan in Dead City season 1. Beyond this betrayal, Maggie’s ongoing grief and hatred for Negan interferes with her relationship with Hershel and becomes harmful toward him. As Cohan explains, it is only in season 2 where she begins to understand the negative effect her feelings are having on her son and that she needs to begin truly changing.

Per Morgan and Cohan, this growth has taken root in Dead City season 3 as Maggie moves forward for her son, for herself, and for the larger purpose of helping others. This even brings her some of the joy that she has not allowed herself to experience for years now, and there are no longer any brutal, physical fights between her and Negan.

With the former enemies finally on the same page, they are now focused on rebuilding post-apocalyptic Manhattan while contending with various threats. Along with Maggie, Negan, and Hershel, season 3 will feature Dillard, an eccentric new character played by Jimmi Simpson who has survived on his own for years. Aimee Garcia makes her series debut as a charming new leader named Renata, while Raúl Castillo plays her brother, Luis, who is a doctor. Lisa Emery and Željko Ivanek are also reprising their respective roles of the Dama and the Croat.

In addition to the story and characters, Dead City season 3 will have an alternate reality episode set in a version of New York City where the zombie apocalypse did not happen. As for the overall season, new showrunner Seth Hoffman has teased that there won’t be one main villain, and it will instead be about Maggie and Negan’s ambitious plans for Manhattan, and the inevitable obstacles they face along the way.

It has not been confirmed whether season 3 will be the end of The Walking Dead: Dead City or if there are plans for it to come back for another season. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is releasing season 4 later this year, and it has been announced that it will conclude the spinoff. They are the franchise’s only shows actively releasing new seasons, which makes the future unclear beyond the coming episodes in 2026.

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 debuts on July 26 on AMC and AMC+.

Release Date

June 18, 2023

Directors

Kevin Dowling, Loren Yaconelli