The Walking Dead franchise has been a fixture of the pop-culture landscape for almost two decades. The original series broke records when it came to cable TV shows and it proceeded to entertain audiences around the world throughout its 2010 – 2022 run. The TWD Universe continues to do soyl Dixon
Both of those shows will be airing on our screens this year, with the former arriving this month and the latter making its presence felt this fall. Although the immediate future of the TWD Universe is somewhat unclear, AMC does have long-term plans to ensure that new shows within this shared universe of survivors and zombies will be a part of their line-up.
That being said, one of the shows plans on making history this summer.
Dead City season 3 marks the first ever time a TWD show premieres in July
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 premieres on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, July 26, 2026. The cable network made the announcement earlier this summer when it also unveiled the first look trailer for the upcoming episodes. That’s common knowledge by now as TWD fans are eagerly awaiting the new season; what isn’t as well known is that it will mark the first time in the TWD Universe’s long run that a Walking Dead series premieres in July. Yes, really!
While some of the franchise’s shows have occasionally aired new episodes through July (including the first season of Dead City), the AMC saga has never launched a season of a TWD series in that particular month. And that means that, 16 years into its existence, it is continuing to make history.
The Walking Dead was one of the biggest cable TV shows of all time but it generally stayed true to the broadcast in-season rota, premiering in the fall of each respective year and wrapping up in the spring. There were some notable exceptions to that rule (the first season consisted of only 6 episodes so it wrapped in December 2010 while the eleventh and final season premiered in August 2-2021 and ran across a full year, wrapping up in November 2022) but generally you could find Rick, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Carl and more of your TWD favorites on AMC from fall through to spring.
Fear The Walking Deadwas more of a summer fixture for the franchise, with its seasons tending to premiere between April and August (although some debuted in the fall, too). Although some of those seasons ran through July on occasion, not a single one of them premiered in that month. Moreover, as that show adopted split seasons early on in its run, it tended to skip July altogether. Similarly, anthology series Tales of the Walking Dead premiered in August while two-season miniseries The Walking Dead: World Beyond debuted both of its seasons in October.
Dead City‘s more modern counterparts also skipped July as it has essentially become the franchise’s summer show. Rick and Michonne-led miniseries The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live aired its single season in spring while Daryl Dixon has aired three of its four seasons in September (with the fourth likely coming in October or November 2026). And while Dead City‘s first season did run through July – and the second wrapped up just before the month began – that makes season 3’s July 2026 premiere date a bit of a history-maker for the TWD Universe.
That’s not the only history it will look to make either, as – under the leadership of new showrunner Seth Hoffman – the third season will take the well-documented tumultuous relationship between Maggie Rhee and Negan into uncharted territory – friendly territory. Walking Dead fans will know that Maggie has hated Negan ever since he brutally killed her beloved husband Glenn before her eyes (in season 7 of the OG series) and, for a long period of time, she made it her mission to kill him. Although she did come close on a few occasions, she eventually agreed to acknowledge his attempts to be a better person, adding that in spite of this she could never forgive him. But their uneasy reunion in Dead City has set the stage for an unlikely period of friendship for them.
Having remained in New York City after their recent run-in with The Croat and The Dama, Maggie, Negan, and Perlie Armstrong will attempt to rebuild the city – and Manhattan itself – for the next generation of survivors (including Maggie and Glenn’s son Hershel Rhee). That will obviously come with its own challenges but, as Maggie officially buried the hatchet with Negan in the Dead City season 2 finale, the pair are set to face those challenges together for the first time ever.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 premieres on both AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, July 26 2026. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 subsequently premieres in the fall.
