Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan to star in NYC-set 'Walking Dead' spinoff
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan of AMC's "The Walking Dead" will star in the network's upcoming "Isle of the Dead." Credit: AMC / Josh Stringer
Fan-favorite characters Negan and Maggie will star next year in a fifth spinoff of AMC's post-apocalyptic zombie drama "The Walking Dead."
The basic-cable network announced Monday that "Isle of the Dead" will find Negan Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie Greene Rhee (Lauren Cohan), whose husband Glenn was killed by Negan years earlier, in a closed-off Manhattan, long ago cut off from the mainland and filled not only with the dead but also with fellow survivors. Eli Jorné, a "Walking Dead" writer and co-executive producer, will serve as showrunner of the initially six-episode series. Cohan and Morgan are also among the executive producers.
"I'm delighted that Negan and Maggie's journey continues," Morgan, 55, said in a statement. "It's been such a ride walking in Negan's shoes, I'm beyond excited to continue his journey in New York City with Lauren. Walkers in an urban setting has always been such a cool image, but 5th Avenue, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty? The greatest city in the world?? The backdrop is amazing, but it's the story that Eli Jorné cooked up that is even better."
"Maggie is very close to my heart and I'm excited to continue her journey against the iconic backdrop of New York City, alongside my friend and collaborator, Jeffrey Dean Morgan," Cohan, 40, added in a statement. "Eli Jorné has created something incredibly special and I cannot wait for the fans to see what we have in store for Maggie and Negan."
No other cast or crew was announced. AMC tweeted a teaser graphic Monday, writing, "A bold new vision of #TWD is coming," while Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe, tweeted, "A new story in a new world with two TWD legends."
"The Walking Dead," which premiered in 2010 and is in its 11th and final season, has previously spun off the 2015 series "Fear the Walking Dead," which returns April 7 with the second half of its seventh season; the 2020-21 series "The Walking Dead: World Beyond," about a group of young people among the first generation to grow up in the apocalypse; the upcoming anthology series "Tales of the Walking Dead"; and an untitled upcoming series starring two more fan-favorite characters, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride).
The new spinoff "extends our storytelling around two unforgettable characters fans have grown to love, hate or hate and then love in Maggie and Negan," said AMC executive Dan McDermott in a statement. "It also lets us explore a corner of this universe located on the island of Manhattan, with an iconic skyline that takes on a very different meaning when viewed through the lens of a zombie apocalypse."
