Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 6!
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has just revealed when in the zombie franchise’s timeline a major crossover can happen – but also confirmed just how far away it will be. The end of The Ones Who Live features Rick and Michonne reuniting with Judith and RJ, finally making it back home after defeating the CRM. While the exact time the group reunites isn’t specified, Michonne was away from the Virginia communities for at least a year after leaving. This means the spinoff ends not long after The Walking Dead series finale.
With Rick and Michonne now back home, the door has been opened for a possible crossover event between the lead characters of The Walking Dead‘s spinoffs. The franchise’s Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple has previously expressed interest in bringing the new spinoff’s leads back together in the future. This could lead to moments like Rick and Michonne reuniting with Daryl and Maggie, while learning of Negan’s reformation. However, a Walking Dead crossover event might not happen soon because of the timeline of one spinoff in particular.
According to the timeline established in Dead City, the Maggie and Negan spinoff takes place at the farthest point in the timeline so far. Based on confirmation from Lauren Cohan, Maggie and Negan’s New York City adventure happens five years after the main show. This means many years have gone by since Michonne left in search of Rick. However, based on the timeline established in The Ones Who Live, this means Dead City also takes place years after the duo return to the Virginia communities.
Dead City also features new details that make it difficult for Maggie and Negan to appear any earlier in the franchise’s timeline. The spinoff establishes Maggie has moved the Hilltop to a factory in either New York or New Jersey, her community now being called the Bricks. This means that, by the time Rick and Michonne returned to Virginia, it’s possible she already departed with her people. Because of this timeline discrepancy, the probability of the characters from both spinoffs seeing each other before the events of Dead City are slim.
A crossover between The Walking Dead spinoffs wouldn’t be able to happen prior to Dead City, as it would mean Maggie knows about Rick and Michonne’s return throughout the events of her and Negan’s journey. While Dead City season 2 could revise this to make it so she knew they came back prior to disbanding the Hilltop, it would be out of place for her not to have mentioned it in season 1. Her learning they came back also may have stopped her from venturing north, as the majority of her original survivor family would still be in Virginia.
If a crossover happened before the events of Dead City, it would also be incomplete. Before Maggie found him in New Babylon, Negan had departed the Virginia communities with his wife, making an early reunion with characters like Rick and Michonne impossible. Given his presence as a major survivor in later seasons of The Walking Dead, it wouldn’t make sense for him to be sidelined for a potential crossover. Instead, it would make more sense for everyone’s adventures to converge after Dead City ends.
The expansion of The Walking Dead universe into various spinoffs is just getting started, with Dead City season 2 expected to go into production later this year. Similarly, Daryl Dixon season 2 comes out this summer, with season 3 already confirmed to be in development. Daryl’s show in particular is implied to take place not much time after the end of the main show, with Carol possibly confirming Rick and Michonne came back before Daryl ended up in France. With season 3 of his series already confirmed, a reunion likely won’t be happening in the near future.
If a Walking Dead crossover does come to fruition, it seems it will most likely happen once the story of Dead City ends. This would likely be many years after the resolution of Daryl Dixon as well, providing the perfect opportunity for the franchise’s most prominent characters to come back together. While it’s unclear what threats they could face in a potential reunion, it would no doubt justify the end of the franchise’s ongoing shows. However, with just how many years apart Dead City and The Ones Who Live are, a crossover event is likely just as far away.