The series' latest installment is gonna be supersize.
It’s the beginning of the end… kinda.
Aug. 22 marks the season premiere of the final season ofThe Walking Deadon AMC.
Nadia Hilker on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
But it’s going to be alooooooooongseason.
“I’ll say both,” says showrunnerAngela Kang.
We’re about a week out from that point.
Josh Hamilton on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
All day, every day."
How much is that going to be playing out in season 11?
ANGELA KANG:That’s an important storyline for season 11.
So everything has changed now, now that she’s been away so long.
He’s fully out and part of this community, so there’s a lot going on.
That’s one of those relationships where I think they’ve just been bound together by fate and circumstance.
They clearly are both really formidable, good leaders.
And so if they can work together, they might accomplish pretty remarkable things, but can they ever?
And so those are all questions that we, as writers, are trying to grapple with.
Let’s start with the latter.
What is in store for them?
The Hilltop has fallen.
How do you have safety?
How do you provide for everyone?
How do you even deal with the elements and, of course, the walkers.
Daryl and Carol weren’t in a great place last time we saw them together.
What can you say about their relationship as we start off season 11?
When they start, they put aside some of the things they were struggling with.
But at the same time, you feel they want to do their own thing for a minute.
Carol feels like she’s got a lot she wants to make up for.
Whether or not there’s something truly to make up for, she certainly feels like there is.
So she has this drive to help Alexandria after Daryl accused her of wanting to run away.
If anything, she’s going to dig in.
What about Eugene’s group?
What can you say about their current captivity and what is headed their way?
We saw them run into these super soldiers that are all armored up and have these crazy weapons.
I think the thing they question is: What’s at the end of this?
What do we get to see?
And I think they’re just really adrift and don’t trust it.
And there are things that trigger all kinds of bad emotions for everybody.
So they’ve found themselves in a bit of a crossroads when we’re starting off the season.
Give us some quick hits on some of the new characters we’ll see.
Let’s start with Michael James Shaw as Mercer.
Mercer is a really great character from the books who is the head of the Commonwealth army.
I’ll say that Michael James Shaw is an absolute pleasure to have as part of the cast.
I love the work he’s doing.
There’s a real sense of toughness, but also a tenderness there too.
How about Laila Robins as Pamela Milton?
Pamela is the leader of the Commonwealth.
Laila is amazing and plays the character with such warmth and nuance.
Does she have a son, by chance?
She does have a son, by chance!
We’ll meet the son first actually.
Definitely looking forward to meeting him.
And let’s talk about Josh Hamilton as Lance Hornsby.
Lance Hornsby is also based on a character from the books.
We’ve got our own take on him, and he’s this charismatic fixer for the Commonwealth.
Josh Hamilton is wonderful and brings such interesting flavors to the character.
So there’s some fun to be had with Hornsby.
I want people to watch it and see for themselves.
