The Walking Dead Ending: Creator Teases Unannounced Projects and Says Franchise "Not Going Anywhere Anytime Soon"

The Walking Dead is "not going anywhere anytime soon" despite the main show's impending final season, says creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman. In September, AMC Networks announced its flagship series would conclude with a 24-episode eleventh season spanning two years — leaving just 30 total episodes until the end of The Walking Dead, including the six-episode Season 10 extension currently in production. The network simultaneously announced its third Walking Dead spinoff, a sequel series following the Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) characters on the road, as well as Tales of the Walking Dead, an episodic anthology showcasing new and existing characters.

"I know it was recently announced that the Walking Dead show is ending with Season 11, and we're all very upset about that. It's a real bummer to see that wrapping up," Kirkman said during a Skybound 10th-anniversary panel at virtual New York Comic Con. "But it's something that we've been building to, so we're really excited internally."

He added, "We've got this Carol and Daryl show that was just announced, and there's all kinds of other things like Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and some things that haven't been announced that will be coming out. So The Walking Dead is not going anywhere anytime soon."

In addition to the existing spinoff shows, the franchise is heading to the big screen. Kirkman is working alongside chief content officer Scott Gimple on the Walking Dead feature film revolving around the missing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

In July 2019, just weeks after Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard surprise ended the Walking Dead comic book with its 193rd issue, Kirkman promised the television show would not end without warning.

"Anyone that's concerned that the fact that this comic book wrapped up means that Season 10 is going to somehow spontaneously end on episode 4 as a surprise, that is not going to happen," Kirkman said during last year's San Diego Comic-Con. "There's a lot more story to tell, and I'm very excited to be working with Scott and Angela [Kang, showrunner] to figure out if there are any other threads in the comic that we didn't quite get to, to bring the world past that point. Because I think there is some story to tell when you're talking about the world of The Walking Dead. I'm very excited about that, so no worries there."

The Walking Dead returns with six new episodes in early 2021 on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.