The highly anticipated second season of "Dead City" premieres tonight on AMC
- The Real Perspectives
- May 4
- 3 min read
Updated: May 21
Reel Perspectives
May 4, 2025
The highly anticipated second season of Dead City premieres tonight on AMC and AMC+. The series, a spinoff of AMC's long running The Walking Dead series, which ran for 11 seasons on the network, spawned other beloved spinoffs such as the incomparable The Ones Who Live, led by Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, and Daryl Dixon, led by Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride. The newest season of Dead City reunites enemies Negan and Maggie, led by the ever charismatic Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Laura Cohan, who also serve as executive producers. This season carries 8 episodes, with new episodes released every Sunday through the season finale on June 22, 2025.
Die-hard fans of The Walking Dead franchise know that Negan and Maggie share a complicated history rooted in violence, as Negan murdered Maggie's husband, Glenn, in the original series. Negan has been trying to make amends ever since, and both Negan and Magie have gone through personal transformations since The Walking Dead ended, however, they were thrust into each other's orbit in season 1 when Maggie needed Negan's help to save her son Hershel from the Croat, a former Savior. Venturing into Manhattan overrun by the dead and denizens, with memories of the past rearing its ugly head, Maggie betrayed Negan, who sacrificed himself to save Herschel, where he has remained captive by the Burazi.
The series is created and showrun by Eli Jorne, with executive producers Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Gale Anne Hurd, Brian Bockrath, Colin Walsh, and Michael E. Satrazemis. In addition to Morgan and Cohan, the cast includes Gaius Charles, Željko Ivanek, Mahina Napoleon, Lisa Emery, Logan Kim, Dascha Polanco, Keir Gilchrist, Jake Weary, Pooya Mohseni, and Kim Coates, who is best known for his role in "Sons of Anarchy." Coates makes a compelling villain as Bruegel, the leader of one of New York's fiercest gangs, to spice things up.
In season 2, the characters once again travel into the post-apocalyptic city cut off from the mainland in the growing war for control of Manhattan. Negan finds himself in the center of an apocalyptic showdown where he must confront his past and Maggie and Negan find themselves trapped on opposite sides as their paths intertwine yet again. New Babylon tries to control Manhattan and Negan is forced by the Dama to unite the different factions against New Babylon. The stakes are much higher this season as Negan embraces the person he left behind as the sadistic leader of The Saviors with help from "Lucille," his signature bat.
Morgan has never been better in a role he has claimed since 2016. Having screened the first six episodes available for review, Morgan embodies the role with as much swagger and confidence fit for the character layered in maturity that has evolved from the simple-minded, wise cracking villain to a much more subdued, sympathetic character. Cohan, who also has a command of her character, remains the ever formidable Maggie who leads her community, The Bricks. Maggie's relationship with Hershel, who now feels a connection to the Buzari, is one of the most compelling dynamics of the series.
Dead City is the most polarizing of The Walking Dead spinoffs given Negan and Maggie's volatile history, but it continues to be one of the most interesting as die-hard fans of the The Walking Dead franchise will receive great satisfaction seeing two of its two most popular characters front and center again sharing separate arcs facing new alliances, broken trust, and intense power struggles. When they share the screen, their interactions are ripe with conviction and steely commitment from both actors that fans will appreciate.
The Negan-Maggie dynamic has never been more complex, fascinating, and gripping in season 2. After a two-year wait, the new season introduces twists and turns that allow the series to explore various directions due to the dynamic performances of its leads and interesting new characters that elevate the series from season 1.
The first episode of Dead City premieres tonight on AMC and AMC+ at 9 pm EST.
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