Negan & Maggie Spinoff Has Already Been Set Up In Walking Dead Season 11
Prior to AMC’s announcement, The Walking Dead was already been laying the groundwork for Maggie and Negan’s spinoff. Three episodes into The Walking Dead season 11 part 2, AMC confirmed plans for a show that will take Maggie and Negan to New York City. Titled Isle of the Dead, the sixth series in The Walking Dead universe will be a six-episode story.
The idea that Lauren Cohan’s Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan will be teaming up in New York City after The Walking Dead season 11 confirms that the franchise continues to see potential with this pairing. Ever since Maggie returned to the fold in season 10, the tension between her and Negan has been a focal point of the show’s story. Throughout the battle with the Reapers, whether or not Maggie will seek revenge on Negan has been one of the season’s biggest questions. Most recently, Negan decided that the best way to ensure his survival is to get away from her for good. But of course, the upcoming spinoff makes it clear that their time apart will end eventually.
The main series has already created a major building block for Maggie and Negan's team-up in Isle of the Dead. In The Walking Dead season 11 part 2 premiere, a scene set six months in the future showed Daryl (Norman Reedus) leading Commonwealth to the Hilltop, where Maggie is in charge. This, combined with her current absence from the Commonwealth’s city, are signs that Maggie has no interest in accepting their ways. For reasons that haven’t been explored, it seems that even though it may seem like the ideal place to raise her child, Maggie is at least one character who won’t seek entry into the Commonwealth. That puts Maggie in a position to be one of the characters who leave the group by the end of the series, with two others being Daryl and Carol (Melissa McBride).
Since Maggie is destined to leave anyway and head to New York with Negan, it makes sense for the show to lean into the idea of her having a conflict with the Commonwealth. Depending on how things work out, some Alexandria members may continue living out the lives they’re currently building there. This could be the end that the show offers for most of the main characters, but obviously not Maggie, since she’s on track to join Isle of the Dead and is currently on a collision course with the Commonwealth.
What happens when the conflict with the Commonwealth escalates in The Walking Dead season 11 could will likely further the show’s Isle of the Dead setup. Considering the size of the Commonwealth, Maggie maintaining control over the Hilltop feels unlikely if an attack happens. Maggie getting driven out could lead to her adventure to New York City. How Negan gets brought into the picture, though, is a question that remains unanswered.
The Walking Dead releases new episodes on Sundays on AMC.