The Walking Dead Season 11 - What We Know So Far

All good things must come to an end, lest they shamble on like a zombie with none of the spark that once gave them life. The same applies to The Walking Dead. Sure, Daryl and Carol are splitting off from the main group to lead their own spin-off series, but the flagship vanilla Walking Dead is coming to a well-deserved end.

During the season 10 finale, "Here's Negan," AMC revealed via teaser trailer that The Walking Dead's 11th and final season is almost ready to pounce. The video does a good job at asking questions since it consists of a mysterious narrator grilling a character with a questionnaire (e.g., what are you doing here, have you been vaccinated for the measles, etc.), but it leaves audiences with more questions than answers. These include but are not limited to characters who will appear in the season and the overarching plot — aside from surviving the zombie apocalypse, that is. Here's everything we know so far about The Walking Dead season 11.

Even though the season 11 teaser leaves audiences with more questions than answers, it provides one singular answer to burning audience questions: The shows' final season will start airing August 22, one month before autumn officially starts. But, since The Walking Dead is on AMC, it isn't going to release ready for binging.

Not only will viewers have to wait one week between each episode, but the season will be divided into bite-sized chunks of eight episodes each (via Deadline). Season 11 will last 24 episodes — the most of any season, which is fitting — but that staggered release schedule will come at a cost. Even though season 11 will begin in 2021, it won't end until 2022. That's good news for audiences who don't want to see The Walking Dead end, bad news for viewers who want nagging questions answered. With luck, a real zombie apocalypse won't interrupt the finale mid-season.

Given the high turnover rate of survivors during a zombie apocalypse, you could probably run a lucrative betting pool on who dies and when. But, we're less concerned about actor expiration dates and more concerned about who will and won't show up for the final season, even if it's only to be eaten by zombies.

Since the main characters survived season 10 (shocking, we know), they will more than likely star in season 11. These include Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos). Of course, season 11 isn't all world-weary returning faces. Audiences can also look forward to a few new characters as well. For example, Michael James Shaw (Corvus Glaive in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, Papa Midnite in Constantine) announced via Instagram that he has been cast as Mercer, the leader of the Commonwealth Army.

With any luck, other characters will revisit the show. Audiences haven't seen Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) since season 9, so maybe he will come back for the final season, even if only in a flashback. According to RadioTimes, Reedus is trying his best to convince Lincoln to return, but so far we've got nothing.

Since season 11 is The Walking Dead's finale, it will probably tie up loose ends (assuming the developers don't want to save answers for spin-offs). With 24 planned episodes, the final season will have more than enough time.

According to The Walking Dead's showrunner Angela Kang, via Deadline, season 11 will be "bigger than ever." She explained, "The stakes will be high — we'll see more zombies, tons of action, intriguing new stories, never-before-seen locations and our groups together in one community for the first time, trying to rebuild what the Whisperers took from them."

That's an interesting hook; every major player working under one roof for the common goal of recovering from the Whisperers, but there's more to it than that. Since Michael James Shaw will play the Commonwealth's military leader Mercer, the community will serve a major role in the season. Add in other dangling plot threads, such as the Maggie/Negan blood feud and the new hostile faction known as The Reapers, and audiences have a lot of story to look forward to.