The Walking Dead's emotional conclusion wrapped the flagship's story in 2022, but fans can still look forward to numerous upcoming TWD spinoff series, including Dead City. Premiering in just a few short weeks, the series will take Lauren Cohan’s Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, with plenty of unique undead threats centered on the island, as Maggie tries to rescue her son, Hershel. That's not the only problem that they will have to deal with, though, as Dead City will apparently becomes Roach City at some point, which sounds as horrifying as can be.
Lauren Cohan shared details for the upcoming horror drama in an interview with The New York Post, where she teased the creepy-crawly scene that has Maggie and Negan dealing with a swarm of cockroaches as they’re hiding from nearby walkers. Luckily, it was all CGI magic, without the stars actually having to suffer through a roach flood. Even if they likely won’t seem to be having fun on-screen, they definitely had a blast seeing the magic happen in the aftermath. In Cohan's words:
That was a fun one to watch in post-production. The augmentation in the sound of the legs, their shells scuttling together. I think there was a time when we thought about doing it with rats. But it was so much more insidious for it to be roaches.
It's understandable why rats would have been an alternate idea. And while that would have been similarly awful to watch, it's been done quite a bit before in other projects, while roaches aren't exactly the norm.
CGI or not, that scene is already making my skin crawl, and it’s going to be terrifying to see it when it finally airs. There have been a lot of creepy and gag-incuding moments from The Walking Dead and its spinoffs over the years, so it’s not really anything that fans aren’t used to, generally speaking. But the idea of being swarmed by cockroaches is realistic enough, setting it apart from dealing with nasty zombie bits.
Since it is a Walking Dead series, the cockroaches and walkers probably won’t be the only creepy creatures that Maggie and Negan deal with in the rundown Big Apple. There is a lot we know about Dead City already, but there are still going to be some surprises in store. One of the trailers for Dead City showed off the most nightmarish zombie that Maggie and Negan have faced yet, which is in addition to some very human threats out there.
It's no secret that Maggie has been through a lot on The Walking Dead, between her house burning down, losing so many loved ones, and getting captured on numerous occasions. (Which isn't even the whole of it.) This new spinoff will likely put her through the wringer yet again, with Maggie having to once again rely on the brute that murdered her husband. Here's hoping New York itself can survive their rough relationship.
The Walking Dead: Dead City will be premiering on AMC on June 18, after it was initially meant to debut in April. Keep an eye out for other big releases coming to the 2023 TV schedule.
