The Walking Dead Showrunner on How the Story Will End in Super-Sized Season 11

The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang previews what’s down the road in the zombie drama’s looming final season. After the six-episode extended Season 10 now airing on AMC, Season 11 of The Walking Dead will premiere this summer with an eight-episode half-season. The blockbuster-sized final season will air 24 episodes spanning three parts — Season 11A, Season 11B, and Season 11C — before The Walking Dead comes to an end with its series finale sometime in late 2022. With just 29 total episodes remaining after Sunday’s return pitting Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) against new enemy group the Reapers, Kang teases what’s to come this summer:

“We are actively working on Season 11. It’s a long season for us, it’s 24 episodes. We keep it at 16 normally! I do have a sense of where it might end but we are working on all of that,” the three-season showrunner told NME. “We’ll be introducing new communities that are antagonists, sometimes allies. There’s going to be all the human drama that we’ve built up: we’ve got Maggie back, there’s a great Maggie/Negan story that we’re working on. There will be lots to look forward to for our fans who have been following us all of this time!”

The final season takes the show back on the road as the world of The Walking Dead expands again with a New World Order glimpsed in a first-look teaser announcing the new season’s earlier-than-expected summer return. All roads lead to the Commonwealth, the civilization behind the white-armored soldiers who will return in the upcoming Season 10C episode “Splinter.”

In the remaining five episodes of the extended Season 10, “You’re going to see these beloved characters pull through some pretty hairy situations. Some of these [upcoming episodes] are classic Walking Dead survival stories on the road. Those are really fun for us to write, and a lot of times fans really connect with them. There’s some stuff that’s really just some base-level things that they’re dealing with, like how do you have enough food? How do you have proper shelter? How do you repair relationships? How do you come out of a war and rebuild?”

“I think that we throw in some mystery, intrigue, and some good scares, while we also get to see and learn some things from [certain characters’] pasts that come back and have importance for the future,” Kang said. “I think all of these episodes our actors are doing incredible work, and I hope that you’ll tune in to watch these folks do their awesomeness. I’m always blown away by what our actors do: please watch!”

Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD. New episodes of The Walking Dead extended Season 10 premiere Sundays at 9 pm ET/8c on AMC.