All the info you need about The Walking Dead Franchise from Comic Con 2020!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

As you all know by now, this year's San Diego Comic Con is taking on a more COVID-19 friendly format with live-streamed panels (hooray for those who could never afford to go!) covering all of your favorite shows and movies. As always, we’re there with insights and news as it breaks. We’re bringing you the best and coolest panels beamed in to the official Comic Con @Home YouTube page. You can watch for yourself above or read the news below from the panel.

It seems every year, "The Walking Dead" gets bigger and bigger at the Con, and this year is no different. The afternoon of the dead kicks off with "Fear The Walking Dead", as their panel joins up to discuss the upcoming 6th season. As always for this franchise, Chris Hardwick is the host.

The panel is being broken up into two groups, so that they can adequately dig in with each of the guests. Hardwick informs us that the season 6 premiere is set to debut Sunday, October 11 9p ET, 8pm CT. For group one of the panel, Hardwick is joined by Lennie James, Alycia Debnam Carey, Colman Domingo (Whose house is stunning), and producers Ian Goldberg, Andrew Chambliss and Scott M. Gimple. Right as the panel kicks off, we’re reminded where season five left off with various plotlines, but especially with Morgan being shot and left for dead. Then we're shown the trailer for season six, which you can check out below!

– Much like The Talking Dead, Hardwick is wasting no time as he dives right into the questions and answers. Here are the highlights, or you can watch the panel in it’s entirety below!

After watching the teaser, the inevitable question is…Is Morgan ok? Lennie James jokes that he needs a couple of pints.
Was that Morgan with red eyes in the teaser? "Yes. It’s not allergies. There’s something going on with Morgan.”
How would Virginia compare to other villains? Gimple says she’s a hero to herself. She’s the cheeriest villain of all the shows and we’ll see more dimensions to her this season.
After everything Alicia's been through, who does she trust the most? Not a lot of trust going on. Probably Strand because she’s known him the longest. But she also understands that everyone can flip on a dime.
Can Alicia trust Strand? From Strand's POV, absolutely, because of the promise he made to her mom. Strand doesn’t trust but demands to be trusted.
As a group, they discuss how the shutdown has affected production. Andrew answers that they simply played the waiting game, and finished writing. He's excited for the back half of the season, just waiting to come back safely.
So what's the mindset going into season six? Virginia's now calling the shots. It’s a huge paradigm shift. What will living under these circumstances do to these characters? You can tell from the teaser that this is the darkest season., with an anthology structure to the episodes so that they can deep dive into the characters as they struggle to adapt to these changes.
Colman Domingo and Lennie James direct episodes this season.
What would Rick think of Morgan this season? He’s be happy that Morgan is still alive. He might be really worried about what’s left of his friend.
Will there be a time jump? Not only is there a time jump, but there could be time jumps…

– From here, we move onto the second group, Ruben Blades, Danay Garcia, and Jenna Elfman.

Danay talks about how Luciana starts off with a plan for season 6.
Jenna explains that June and John will do well apart, because they’re both strong individuals on their own. The question is how will June operate under Virginia’s rule.
Will Dwight and Sherry reunite? Of Course they’re not going to answer. Dwight is a very different man than he was at the end of his run on The Walking Dead. When the reunion does happen, it won’t be what either character expects, as they’re both very different characters then when they last saw each other.
Are there new characters? There are many new characters, and one will be Virginia's sister.
-In season 6, the show will be going inside Virginia’s communities. It’s the opposite of the “Wild West” vibe from previous seasons, and move more towards a "rule with an iron fist” vibe.

You can watch the panel in it's entirety below!

On to the flagship show, "The Walking Dead"

The next panel starts off with Hardwick once again, but this time he’s wearing a sweet shirt that matches the rug from THE SHINING. This panel will also break up into two groups. He mentions that the Season ten finale, The Greg Nicotero directed ‘A Certain Doom’, finally has an airdate of Sunday October 4th, at 9p ET, 8p CT. It will be directly followed by the premiere of "The Walking Dead: World Beyond".

– The first few minutes of the season 10 finale are shown. Check them out below!

The panel begins with Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Greg Nicotero, Scott M. Gimple, and Angela Kang. Here are the highlights:

Beta was used to doing what Alpha said. Now he’s a sort of Beta/Alpha Hybrid. He’s being driven by the energy of the crowd, like he was when he was a musician. Only this time they’re all dead.
Greg Nicotero talks about how he has absolutely loved the trajectory of this season.
Norman Reedus is asked what the most interesting part of Daryl's arc was this season. He feels that the trust issues he had with Carol was the most impotant part of his arc, because it put members of the group in danger, but he also enjoyed playing daddy to Judith.
The group laughs at how well Scott Gimple dodges answering questions.
Melissa is asked how she would describe Carol’s relationship with Daryl at the close of season ten. She responds only with a sad sound. Angela Kang says its so fun to write for those two characters, because they can be real in ways that other characters can’t, but that makes the hurtful moments run deeper. Says the two have a long road to travel.
Khary talks about how adversity is what keeps Ezekiel hopeful at this point. That the potential cancer the character may have gives him hope, because it’s something else that hasn’t beaten him. That the growth on his neck gives his character a driving force, because he knows things can't get worse. He will be more aggressive to find the light in a dark situation.
Ross compares the reveal of the masked character to the reveal of Michonne is season 3. Says the reveal felt that important.
Ross is asked if Aaron will get a new relationship. He said he was close to having one with Jesus, and he would love to see that happen in the future, but that there’s so much going on, and that everyone close to him dies. He believes Aaron should just be fond of someone, rather than be involved with them.
Covid has disrupted all workplaces, including theirs. The writers room resumed digitally, but the production was held off. Episodes for season eleven will not air in 2020, but Angela Kang announces season ten has been extended by six episodes that will come after the finale. Those episodes will run in early 2021.

Group 2 joins, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Josh McDermitt, Lauren Cohan, Seth Gilliam, and Paula Lazarro.

Hardwick expresses how excited he is to see Lauren Cohan talking about the Walking Dead again. Lauren says the most exciting thing is that Maggie is coming back full time, not visiting.
Hardwick asks how it felt to return. Lauren said she was on set for about a month before she shot her scenes, so she got to know people she hasn’t met yet, and reacclimatized herself, so when the time came to film her scenes, she settled back in easily.
Angela is asked what the Negan/Maggie dynamic in season eleven will be like. She said it’s not going to be an easy road. Maggie hasn’t seen any of the changes in Negan. All that Maggie knows is that the man that brutally killed her husband is no longer in prison, and that hilltop has been destroyed. So their meeting again will be very interesting.
Gabriel’s leadership arc has drastically changed. Seth is asked how Gabriel feels about getting more power. He says that Gabriel believes God gave him this purpose, and that’s his second chance at leadership after failing his church when his character made his debut.
Paola shares how rewarding it’s been to share this character that relates so much to her, and its been rewarding to engage with fans, and that she’s so thankful for the opportunity. Says that she would love to share scenes with Negan, because they’re both so wordy, and that she looks forward to sharing scenes with Carol, as it’s her favorite character.
The cast shares what they miss the most about being on set. (It's a pretty funny moment if you have the time to watch the panel below. I can only cover so many "musk" jokes here.)
Angela Kang compliments Robert Kirkman's comics, and talks about how the show tries to emulate the all inclusive nature of the comic by representing all groups, races, and sexual orientations, because that's what best represents our world.
Greg Nicotero promises that the last five minutes of the episode takes everything to a different place, and that thre's so much to look forward to.

This closes out the panel for "The Walking Dead", as we move onto the final show in the lineup, "The Walking Dead: World Beyond".

AMC’s "The Walking Dead: World Beyond" Panel begins with Chris Hardwick informing us that the show will debut on October 4th at 10p ET, 9p CT.

A never before seen teaser for the new program is shown. Check it out below!

The show takes place 10 years after the dead outbreak began, and it’s announced as a 2 season limited event.
This panel will also be split into 2 groups. The first group includes producers Scott M. Gimple and Matt Negrete, and stars Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Joe Holt, and Julia Ormond. Here are the highlights!

Scott is asked what the new take on the world is in “World Beyond”. He comments that the two sisters that star in the show live 10 years into the apocalypse, but in first world conditions. They choose to leave those conditions to do something heroic.
On World Beyond, the walkers are called “Empties”. Matt says the idea came from Jesus in the comics, and proudly claims that he ripped off Robert Kirkman.
Alexa is asked if her character is named Hope as a reflection of her characters attitude. She simply replies “No.” Hope is a character that has very little hope in the world she lives in. She and Aliyah dig into the bond that the sisters (Iris and Hope) have on the show, and how they both look to each other for motivation to continue.
Joe is asked about his character, the father of these two sisters. His character goes off to other communities to teach and share whats been learned about this plague, and progress on a potential cure.
Julia is asked about her character, who shows up in the trailer flying in a helicopter that looks eerily similar to the one that picked up Rick at the end of his run on the Walking Dead. She explains that her character is a high up figure in this community, and that her character, like other antagonists in the walking dead universe, is a little sociopathic.
The actors talk about how they had a lot to catch up on from the previous shows, because they surprisingly needed to know quite a bit of what’s already happened.
The younger actors reveal that the zombies absolutely terrify them. That they were reguilarly scared on set, and that it was hard to see the walkers as actual people, until they saw them eating granola bars at craft services.
We move on to the second group, consisting of Nicholas Cantu, Hal Cumpston, Nico Tortorella, and Annet Mahendru.
Elton (played by Cantu) is a character that believes the world is in it’s final days, and that this is the extinction event for earth. He agrees to go off on this mission with the others because he thinks it will be his only chance to see the world before it soon ends.
Cumpston plays Silas, a character trying too escape a dark past that the others are unaware of.
Tortorella plays felix, who acts as a guardian to the girls while they’re separated from their father.
And Mahendru plays Huck, who is Felix’s partner in crime and Hope’s mentor. She feels responsible for Hope being out in the world, and wants to bring her back safely.
Scott is asked how much will the CRM play into the show? They are a huge part of the show, and you’ll find out a large amount about them. It will explain a lot about the other shows, but will also ask new questions.
Are the zombies any different? Matt answers that since it’s been 10 years, there’s been 10 years of decay. This show will try to maximize ultimate disgust.
The whole season has been shot, and is ready to be aired. The writers are currently work on season 2. Gimple explains that after 10 seasons of the walking dead, and six seasons of FTWD, they wanted to work on something new.

This was a surprisingly fun panel, with a group of actors very excited to be a part of this franchise. I questioned why they would have this panel as the last of the three, but it’s clear that along with the fresh cast and fresh ideas, there’s going to be a lot to learn about the larger walking dead universe from this limited series.

You can watch the World Beyond panel in it’s entirety below!