The Walking Dead returned to Comic-Con for their 11th appearance at the convention, this time for the virtual Comic-Con@Home. Moderated by Chris Hardwick, the panel featured chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, showrunner and executive producer Angela Kang, executive producer Greg Nicotero, and cast members Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohen, Josh McDermitt, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, and Paola Lazaro.
Hardwick opened the panel by announcing that the season 10 finale “A Certain Doom” will air on Sunday, October 4 and will be followed by the premiere of The Walking Dead World Beyond. Later in the panel, Kang announced that season 10 is getting extended with 6 more episodes that’ll air in early 2021. Then the first few minutes of the finale were shown, which follows Gabriel as he passes fellow characters as they ready for the hordes of walkers surrounding them, then a tease of how other characters fight to survive on the outside, including our first look at Maggie’s return.
The conversation started on Beta’s new role as leader of the Whisperers, which is not one he is comfortable with and if the characters will try to move among the herd of walkers knowing that Whisperers are among them.
Reedus talked about Daryl’s arc this season and the responsibilities of trying to help Carol and taking care of Michonne’s kids. A few unanswered questions went to the producers, including if there will be a rematch between Daryl and Beta and who will take care of Judith and R.J. now that Michonne is gone.
McBride got into where Carol is emotionally and the mistakes that she made that caused problems for the group and in her relationship with Daryl. Payton addressed Ezekiel’s mindset on his journey to look for a new community and how his cancer has changed his perspective. Marquand briefly gave his reaction to meeting the masked stranger in the woods, which can be seen in the teaser trailer.
The conversation turned to Cohen, who expressed her feelings about coming back to playing Maggie and confirmed that she and Carol were communicating via leaving notes for each other. In regard to what’ll happen when Maggie and Negan are face to face again, Kang left it up in the air, though Morgan believes that Negan would want to meet Maggie and Glenn’s son Hershel and would be honest with him about murdering the boy’s father.
Gilliam talked about his expanded role as a leader and protector and McDermitt discussed his burgeoning relationship with Stephanie and how he will continue to grow as a character. Morgan also reflected on character growth and what it would be like to get Lucille back versus where he is now. Lazaro shared what’s been happening since she joined the show, including the online community and in-person.
Kang wrapped things up discussing what things look like for the future of the show considering the impact COVID-19 has had as well as their continued goal of providing inclusivity in the cast and crew, then gave a final shoutout for the season finale and what fans can expect.
The full Comic-Con@Home panel can be viewed below.
