It’s a new day on AMC’s zombie spinoff The Walking Dead: Dead City. After a harrowing sophomore season for survivors Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the two longtime adversaries decided in the finale that working together is the best path forward. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Either way, the two will be putting down roots in New York City in Season 3, which means, fans get a few new friendly faces.
New cast joining Cohan and Morgan this year on the post-apocalyptic drama include Jimmi Simpson (as Negan’s new bartender pal, Dillard), Raúl Castillo (as doctor Luis), and Aimee Garcia (as leader Renata). In TV Insider’s exclusive video from AMC, we get a deeper look inside their world in Season 3.
In the clip, Castillo introduces the hospital set that he works on and Garcia shows off Renata’s apartment (“Yes, we do have apartments this season,” she coyly notes). There are also some glimpses of Dillard’s bar and his sleeping set-up.
Morgan even teases in the clip that Season 3 is “a completely new year, a completely new relationship” for Negan and Maggie.
When TV Insider caught up with Cohan, she told us they had an “amazing” time shooting Season 3, and that’s partially due to Simpson’s lighter, sometimes-comical storyline lifting the mood on set. Dillard has survived many years by himself, holed away in his NYC bar; however, the trade-off in that solo lifestyle is that he may or may not believe that he can understand and speak to the dead. As Negan spends time with Dillard, the two will form a friendship like we’ve never seen from the former Savior leader before.
“I’m so jealous of Jeffrey, because I had great times [working with Simpson] where Maggie and Dillard get to interact, and I would’ve taken more,” Cohan says. “It’s really enjoyable to have a character like him and to have an actor like Jimmi who can just blow you away. He takes it off the page and brings such a level of joy. Even though Maggie and Renata are not in the same mood that the guys are in, it just makes for so much fun [on set].”
Still, we wouldn’t pull out the shot glasses just yet. Can Maggie and Negan overcome their differences for the greater good of New York? Find out this summer.
The Walking Dead: Dead City, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, July 26, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
