Tribeca 2023: The Walking Dead: Dead City premiere and overview

Considering it was my first Tribeca Film Festival experience, I didn’t know quite what to expect. But if there is one thing that remains true, even to this day; The Walking Dead fanbase continues to support any TWDU project, especially the long-awaited spinoff The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Where else could the Dead City premiere but in the very city the spinoff takes place? As the stars made their way onto the red carpet, surrounded by a wave of zealous fans, I realized this would be but the beginning of a very interesting evening.

The main cast spent as much time as they could taking photos and signing autographs before emerging inside a separate area to conduct quick interviews. Everyone dressed their best, although I absolutely adored Lauren Cohan’s ensemble.

She truly dazzled in a sophisticated, stunning way! As I too walked the red carpet amongst my husband and friends, including a very dear friend since high school, we tried to catch more glimpses of the cast before making our way into the theater.

The event itself was in no short supply of police presence and security guards, who I must say went above and beyond in being both professional and friendly. We were able to see the cast make their way to their seats in the center front center of the theater, which included Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s wife Hilarie (Lucille) and both Cassady McClincy (Lydia) and Okea Eme-Akwari (Elijah).

But I’m sure by now you want to know more about Dead City itself.

The Walking Dead: Dead City episodes 1 and 2 overview

To keep it spoiler free, that is until I begin recapping the season, episodes 1 and 2 of Dead City delivered in nearly every aspect. It wasn’t so much surprising as it was gratifying.

After witnessing multiple days of filming, it was very obvious that those who couldn’t see what myself and other fans witnessed, had no idea how amazing this spinoff would be. Like any television show, no matter how beloved it is, can and will have some imperfections.

However, the imperfections, from what I could gather from just the first two episodes were minimal and somewhat expected. Yes, the old hat of Maggie hating Negan does continue however, it doesn’t take away from the focus of the first two episodes.

At this point, when the two reunite under a very fast paced and exciting way, it’s almost as though Negan expects this every time he runs into Maggie. He knows she still harbors a deep, not hatred, but perhaps dissatisfaction of both how she still feels about him and how he’s still alive and just trying to start over in the seemingly unending apocalypse.

And it does seem as though Negan is attempting another restart, without outright explaining the whereabouts of Annie and his child, while being the sole caretaker of Ginny. The silent young girl, ever attached to Negan, is something Maggie wasn’t expecting and is downright unhappy to see.

This is of course due to her current predicament of Hershel being taken by The Croat as collateral to the desolate New York City. While it’s common knowledge that Dead City was mostly, I’d say at least 95% filmed in New Jersey, with perhaps a day or two of New York City reshoots, I recognized a majority of locations immediately.

These locations include Weehawken NJ, Holmdel NJ and I’m pretty sure Patterson NJ. While episodes 1 and 2 did not reveal the grotesque multiple limbed walker from the trailer, you do get to see some pretty ugly walkers nonetheless and how their presence affects the lives of those essentially stuck in the city.

The ziplining is a rather practical and effective, albeit scary, way to maneuver from building to building and the overall design of the tragically destroyed city was impressive. The villains, yes villains of the show thus far will easily repair any damage left behind from the rather lackluster Reapers arc.

Both The Croat and Perlie Armstrong are playing two different games, but each have the same common denominator: Negan. How will the two find him and what happens if they both do?

After the conclusion of both episodes, the cast went on stage for the panel portion of the evening, discussing the show, other TWD spinoffs, to a degree, and answered fan questions from the audience. It was amusing to see the cast stumble to answer some questions in regard to the other spinoffs.

Was this because they didn’t want to spoil anything or did they truly not know what is going on as they are not on the set with the cast like they are used to doing on TWD? I will end this article on a final yet small note.

Sitting in a theater, watching both episodes created the perfect experience alongside the ever-excellent musical score. Between the opening credits musical score and every time The Croat appeared on screen, it was goosebump city!

Truly surreal. It completely transformed the watching experience and really pulls you into the story the way every television show or film should.

The Walking Dead: Dead City airs on AMC June 18 at 9PM.

What do you think will happen in The Walking Dead: Dead City? Will it get renewed for another season?

Let us know in the comments below!