Summary
Speculation aroundThe Walking Deadseason 12 has been floating around ever since the main show concluded, but it would face an impossible problem after the last three spinoffs.The Walking Deadseason 11’s finaleended the main series and set up a new era of the franchise as the story has continued through spinoff shows.While season 11’s ending resolved the main storylines, it didn’t finish everyone’s journey, leading to the creation ofDead City,Daryl Dixon, andThe Ones Who Live. This allowed the most popular characters to continue their stories while allowingWalking Deadveterans to return.
The Walking Deadseason 12 has not been confirmed.
The reception to these new shows has been overwhelmingly positive, with the franchise producing some of its best content in years. Having regulars like Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Norman Reedus all reprise their roles has been great for fans who aren’t ready to seeThe Walking Deadend, while the return of Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln has brought back plenty of nostalgia. With the franchise gaining strong momentum, it seems likely thatThe Walking Deadis building towards a crossover event, butthe spinoffs do present one major challenge for a potential twelfth season.
While fans may be desperate to seeThe Walking Dead’s main characters reunite, season 12 would have a hard time overcoming the spinoffs' amazing production value. Given the spinoffs have smaller casts and fewer episodes, they have each been able to focus more on the overall production. This has allowed the franchise to branch out and shoot in new locations while creating interesting outfits, weapons, and zombie variants.The Ones Who Live’s budgetwas the most expensive yet inThe Walking Deaduniverse, showing how much money and effort was put into making these spinoffs stand out.
It is clear the franchise does have great ideas and the larger budgets have allowed the spinoffs to be more creative, but this only makes it harder for season 12 to thrive in comparison.
In contrast, the main show likely spent a lot more money on maintaining its huge cast, meaning the overall production was inferior to the newer projects.Rick Grimes' spinoff alone creates problems for aWalking Deadcrossover, but withDaryl DixonandDead Cityalso having better production value than the main show, it will be hard for the proposed season 12 to improve on this. It is clear the franchise does have great ideas and the larger budgets have allowed the spinoffs to be more creative, but this only makes it harder for season 12 to thrive in comparison.
The Spinoff Shows All Featured Stunning Visuals That Bettered The Main Show
Although the spinoffs have improved in a variety of ways, the visuals are one of the biggest upgrades from the main show which season 12 may not be able to overcome. The latest shows have managed to get creative, introducing a variety of new variants, a homemade missile launcher, and even a zombie orchestra, but none of this compares to how visually stunning the spinoffs are.Dead City’s New York landscape,Daryl Dixon’s French backdrops, andThe Ones Who Live’s CRM-orientated locations have made each show feel unique while offering more interesting and breathtaking scenery than the main show.
The Walking Deaddid offer its own iconic shots throughout its 11 seasons such as Rick riding a horse through Atlanta, but Michonne had her own version of this in her spinoff that matched its quality.Daryl Dixonalso used some filming tricksto get the most out of their time filming in France, making the show feel completely different visually from anything the franchise has done before. With the production value contributing to the spinoffs producing some of the franchise’s most beautiful shots,it will be near impossible forThe Waking Deadseason 12 to replicate these impressive visuals.
Despite the challenges facingThe Walking Deadseason 12, it could still happen without lowering its quality. While it may not be given the official season 12 title, the franchise’s main characters could come together once again to face a new enemy, butthe project would have to make some big changes from the original show. The Walking Dead averaged around 16 episodes per season with the final installment containing 24, but season 12 would have to significantly reduce this, as the spinoffs being just six episodes were a huge benefit to their overall quality.
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Season 12 could get away with being slightly longer, but reducing the number of episodes would help improve the quality of the crossover. If season 12 is around six to eight episodes, it could still have a similar budget to season 11, but the quality would be much better since more money would be spent on each episode. Unfortunately,The Walking Deadwon’t be able to avoid the cost of a large cast since the ensemble is one of the franchise’s big appeals, but going for fewer episodes would allow season 12 to maintain the quality of the spinoffs.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a television series that premiered on July 25, 2025. It follows Sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. He embarks on a journey to locate his family, encountering various survivors amidst the chaos.
