Attention: Season 3 of AMC’s The Walking Dead: Dead City is coming. And it might be the best thing ever.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan said Saturday at the Monte Carlo Television Festival, after the first two episodes premiered at Opening Day the night before, “This is the best season for us. So far, it’s so different. The relationship we have now is so different.”
On Saturday, Morgan, showrunners Seth Hoffman and Lauren Cohan met with journalists at the festival to talk about Maggie and Negan’s struggle to survive in post-apocalyptic Manhattan.
“Negan was a great villain, but now he’s got even more layers,” Morgan said. “He’s still the same guy who came out of the trailer 11 years ago, but he’s more multifaceted. This year has seen a big change in their relationship and a new side of him has been revealed.”
“That’s why I want to play him. Every year is new for me. Who would do a series with two enemies who want to kill each other? And yet here we are.”
According to Cohan, grief “defined” Maggie. But now things are starting to change a bit.
“This year is the first year that Maggie realized that being defined by grief was no longer for her. It started in Season 2 with her son. She knew something had to change, and it was very uncomfortable. There’s something bigger, a bigger purpose.”
“We are unlikely allies who realize how much we can trust each other and how much we know each other. The irony of their relationship, including how they met, is interesting.”
Morgan agreed. “For the last 10 years, we played out as much hate as we could. Now we’ve known each other longer than anyone else alive. To survive, they need each other, and that was a big revelation. It was so nice to see Maggie smile, I hadn’t seen it in 10 years!”
“It was great to have scenes that had real meaning and depth. We got to see a new side of each other. She never stabbed me!”
Hoffman talked about the alternate reality episode.
“It would be nice to be able to see this show from a fan’s perspective, and there was one thing that fans wanted to see: a character that we probably haven’t seen in a long time.”
He added, “You’ll see what would have happened to Maggie and Negan if the apocalypse hadn’t happened. Despite the terrible trauma and everything they’ve done, you’re going to start to wonder: Would it have been better for them to go through the zombie apocalypse?”
Does this show even make sense given what’s going on in the United States today?
“In the first episode, Maggie is so scared that something bad will happen if a stranger comes into her community. She can only think of the bad things that could bring. With Negan’s help, she begins to understand that bringing people into the community brings life to the community. We realize that not everyone in America has that idea,” said Hoffman.
“That question will be asked going forward this season.”
They are also researching “male loneliness.”
“They’re struggling to find a connection. And it’s also a season about immigration. They’re not going from country to country, but it’s a world where people are afraid of others. We’re asking, ‘Do we need to do that?'” As the season progresses, people will have different opinions on that. And so will the audience. ”
“And the choice (the idea) of having children now is the ultimate sign of hope. Hope at a time when we could have given up,” Kohan said.
Still, some things are exactly the same. Negan’s iconic baseball bat is very important to him, even if the batteries are dead.
“Lucille is Lucille. It’s the only prop I really love as an actor. It changes the way I stand and the way I speak. I’m not the real Negan. I know it’s shocking, but she showed me this character.”
Although some characters don’t work out in this world, Morgan said, “We’ve lost a lot of people on this show, and losing them never works out,” but they still want to push the boundaries and “do things we’ve never seen before,” Hoffman said.
“This season, we’re exploring Walker’s humanity. There’s a certain amount of recurring Walker characters with names and personalities. We also want people to think, ‘This is still The Walking Dead, but it’s completely new.'”
“The way I work, which not all showrunners do, is that I think of big ideas and I’m uncomfortable forcing them on the production side. I try to figure out what’s possible and write it,” he said, talking about the sequence in the Broadway theater.
“The budget is different than it was on ‘The Walking Dead,’ but I hope we don’t feel that way. We’re putting the money where it’s needed.”
Recalling some of the show’s famous moments and its cruelty, Hoffman said, “I don’t like ‘The Walking Dead’ because of its cruelty. Some shows make you think, and some shows like this make you feel. There’s no need to make the viewer uncomfortable.”
“What a cop,” Morgan laughed, referring to the unforgettable and eye-opening scene, much to the delight of the audience.
“I remember Steven[Yun]with his prosthetic leg singing and dancing and having the best time in his makeup trailer. Now that would be a TikTok video.”
