When Does The Walking Dead Return in 2021?

The Walking Dead returns with new episodes in 2021, starting with a six-episode Extended Season 10 followed by the first part of the eleventh and final season. This year sees zombie apocalypse survivors Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in mostly standalone adventures set in the aftermath of the Whisperer War, which came to an end in October’s “A Certain Doom.” The full cast, including Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Connie (Lauren Ridloff), returns in the 24-episode Epic Final Season that will be split into multiple parts when it airs between late 2021 and late 2022.

The Walking Dead Extended Season 10 begins airing all-new episodes on Sunday, February 28, at 9/8c on AMC, starting with “Home Sweet Home.” The Season 10C premiere reunites Maggie and Negan for the first time since their intense confrontation in Season 9 and reveals a now eight-year-old Hershel Rhee, the widowed Maggie’s son with Glenn (Steven Yeun).

“They are really like deep dives into characters … They don’t have the typical scope and scale of what would be like a gigantic finale with like hundreds of extras by the time you get to the end, but I think we get to tell a really, really cool story that I think the fans will really love,” showrunner Angela Kang explained in an October interview when previewing the new episodes, each designed for safe filming amid the pandemic. “We’ll get to see dynamics between Maggie and Negan , we’ll see a lot of story related to Daryl and Carol, and where people have been in the past, which, I think, should be satisfying for fans who have wondered about X, Y, Z moments.”

These six new episodes will air at their usual time on AMC between February 28 and April 4, ending with the Negan prequel episode “Here’s Negan.”

Previously announced guest stars in Season 10C include Robert Patrick as rough-looking survivor Mays, who antagonizes Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) when he crosses paths with them in “One More”; Lynn Collins as Leah, a stranger a woods-dwelling Daryl encounters in “Find Me”; Hilarie Burton Morgan as Negan’s terminally-ill wife Lucille in “Here’s Negan”; and Okea Eme-Akwari as Elijah, the identity of the man in the metal mask revealed in “A Certain Doom.”

AMC has not announced a return date for The Walking Dead Season 11; it’s expected the final season will start airing in October.

Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD. The Walking Dead returns to AMC with new episodes on Sunday, February 28.