The Walking Dead’s final season has started filming

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

As fans of AMC's The Walking Dead prepare to check out the six "bonus episodes" of season 10 when they start airing on February 28th, filming has already begun on season 11 – the show's final season. AMC announced last September that season 11 will consist of 24 episodes and bring The Walking Dead to an end sometime in 2022. The official WalkingDead_AMC Twitter account confirmed the start of production by tweeting out this image: 

The first day of the last season of #TWD. pic.twitter.com/b1x1XRHztQ

— The Walking Dead on AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) February 9, 2021

It's interesting to note that the director of the episode being filmed is Kevin Dowling, indicating that Greg Nicotero is not directing the premiere episode of season 11. That's a surprise, because Nicotero directed every premiere episode from season 4 through season 10. Dowling has over twenty years of television credits to his name, but this is his first time working on The Walking Dead.

Dowling has previously directed episodes of Mayans M.C., 13 Reasons Why, The Strain, Extant, Heroes, Reaper, Jericho, and The Magnificent Seven, among many others.

The main show may be coming to an end, but AMC still has big plans for the Walking Dead franchise. There's still another season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond coming our way, a seventh season of Fear the Walking Dead has been ordered, feature films starring Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes are in the works, an anthology series called Tales of the Walking Dead is in development, and the characters Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) are going to be getting their own spin-off show.

The bonus episodes of season 10 have the following synopsis: 

Last on The Walking Dead, we witnessed the fall of Alpha (Samantha Morton) and the end of the Whisperers War. The Kingdom had fallen, Hilltop was virtually destroyed and Alexandria abandoned to prepare for final battle. Our survivors were trapped and separated from one another. Yet, when faced with almost certain death, they rallied together to fight, killing Beta (Ryan Hurst) and eliminating the threat of the horde.

In these six new episodes, we find our survivors trying to pick themselves up by their bootstraps following the destruction the Whisperers left in their wake. The years of struggle weigh upon them as past traumas surface, exposing their more vulnerable sides. As they question the state of humanity, the state of their collective community, and the states of their minds, will they find the inner strength to persevere with their lives, friendships, and group intact?

The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The show is produced by AMC Studios and executive produced by Kirkman, Chief Content Officer Scott M. Gimple, Showrunner Angela Kang, Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert, Greg Nicotero, Joseph Incaprera, and Denise Huth.