The Walking Dead Showrunner Teases the Coming of the Commonwealth in Blockbuster Season 10 Finale

The world of The Walking Dead will expand once again when a scout team consisting of Eugene (Josh McDermitt), King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), and Princess (Paola Lázaro) come into contact with a new community in the long-delayed tenth season finale airing in October, teases showrunner Angela Kang. In “A Certain Doom,” the group races against time to reach a rail yard meeting point in Charleston, West Virginia — led there by Eugene’s mysterious radio contact Stephanie (Margot Bingham) — and are due to encounter representatives from a sprawling civilization known as the Commonwealth, which played a central role in the final stretch of creator Robert Kirkman’s since-ended comic book.

“It’s so trippy, because it’s been like a million years since we worked on [the Season 10 finale],” Kang said during The Walking Dead‘s virtual Comic-Con@Home panel. “I think Greg [Nicotero] did an amazing job directing the episode, the writers did an amazing job writing it, the actors. It was really fun to see it all come to life.”

Viewers will learn what becomes of Beta (Ryan Hurst), the Whisperer loyalist waging war on the survivors to avenge Alpha (Samantha Morton) after she was murdered by infiltrator Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Viewers can anticipate “amazing scenes” from Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), more to come from Carol’s (Melissa McBride) “revenge arc,” and Daryl (Norman Reedus) in a “leadership role” as he takes charge over the group of survivors trapped inside a hospital tower surrounded by Beta’s walker horde.

“The Commonwealth group, we will get to I think what’s a pretty cool point for them on their journey,” Kang teased. “Everybody is at play. We see the return of Maggie, Negan has a key role to play. I’m excited for everybody to see our whole group doing their thing, working together to face what’s in front of them.”

In the comic books, the Commonwealth is a network of connected settlements based in Ohio and home to nearly 50,000 survivors. Among them: Governor Pamela Milton, who lords over this classist civilization that boasts such past-life luxuries as cafes, a high court, and even an operational event arena that hosts concerts and sports games.

The season will end on a cliffhanger heading into The Walking Dead Season 11 — now delayed until late 2021 due to a coronavirus-caused filming delay — and the last five minutes of the Season 10 finale takes The Walking Dead to “a whole other place,” Nicotero added.

The Walking Dead Season 10 finale premieres Sunday, October 4 on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.