How Dead City & Daryl Dixon Fit Into The Walking Dead Universe in 2025

More than a decade after The Walking Dead first shuffled onto our screens, the undead universe continues to live thanks to spinoffs, and this year is no exception. Two of the most gripping additions, The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, will be back with new seasons in 2025.

Here’s exactly how these shows weave into the larger apocalypse.

The Walking Dead Projects Release Dates in 2025

• The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 premieres May 4, 2025, on AMC and AMC+. On IMDb, the series is currently holding 7.1/10.
  
• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 is set to debut in Autumn 2025 (exact date to be announced). Season 1 holds 7.5/10 on IMDb, and season 2 is rated 8.5/10.

Both series have already pushed the boundaries of what a Walking Dead story can be — from the urban decay of New York City to the almost romantic beauty of post-apocalyptic France.

How to Watch The Walking Dead in Chronological Order in 2025

If you're looking to binge or rewatch the entire zombie saga in story order — including the latest seasons of Dead City and Daryl Dixon — here's the ultimate guide:

1. Fear the Walking Dead (Seasons 1–8)
   Starts as a prequel to the whole story and eventually overlaps with the main series timeline. To keep the chronological order, start with the first three seasons only, and then proceed to the main show. Then, feel free to mix the main story with FTWD in any way you like.
   

2. The Walking Dead (Seasons 1–11)
   The core story, spanning the rise and evolution of the outbreak. To better understand other side projects of the universe, be sure to finish the main story first.
   

3. The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Seasons 1–2)
   Set about 10 years into the apocalypse. It also offers key insights into the Civic Republic Military.
   

4. Tales of the Walking Dead
   Anthology series with standalone episodes — some prequel, some mid-apocalypse.
   

5. The Walking Dead: Dead City (Season 1)
   Follows Maggie and Negan a few years after the main series finale.
   

6. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (Seasons 1–2)
   Follows Daryl after he washes up in France post-TWD Season 11.
   

7. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
   Focuses on Rick and Michonne’s long-awaited reunion and the power of the CRM.
   

8. The Walking Dead: Dead City (Season 2)
   Continues the Maggie/Negan saga in 2025, deepening their uneasy alliance.
   

9. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (Season 3)
   Expands Daryl’s story, now set in Spain, diving deeper into the Union of Hope’s plans.

What Do Fans Think of The Walking Dead Universe in 2025?

Today, The Walking Dead fans are divided on the state of their favorite universe. Some absolutely love the spinoffs and believe that for a universe existing for over 15 years, The Walking Dead is holding up just fine.

“Dead City is okay. Negan and Maggie have good chemistry, but their feud is repetitive. It's understandable, but still. [...] Daryl Dixon started out fantastic but has sort of been inconsistent. It still has some potential, but my biggest beef with it right now is that they went to France, which is ground zero of the virus, and they did NOTHING with that premise. The Ones Who Live was fantastic, but it could've used a couple more episodes. It was obviously great seeing Rick and Michonne again. I feel like it needed to be 8 - 10 episodes instead of 6, however,” explained Redditor Hveachie.

Others, however, feel way more pessimistic.

“The show is basically dead, they keep pumping out things like the spin-offs and a few people watch it and then cope about it on reddit etc. but yeah, it's done, it was good at one point in time, now it's just a weekend at bernies situation with scott gimple animating a corpse and it's very unconvincing,” Redditor Iwamoto argued.