The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 release date has been revealed, as the first scene shows how Walkers have been powering New York City. Dead City season 2 follows Maggie (Lauren Cohan) as she travels back to New York City, intent on saving Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) after giving him up to the Burazi. In the meantime, their leader, the Dama (Lisa Emery) is forcing him to unite the survivors of New York under her leadership, threatening to kill Hershel (Logan Kim) if he doesn’t comply.

Now, The Walking Dead has released the first scene from Dead City season 2, showing the process of how Walkers are used to bring power to the city. The scene shows a zombie getting killed by two members of the Burazi, who load it into a garbage truck with plow blades. The Walker is brought to a church alongside many other undead corpses, where it’s processed into a green liquid that powers the Radio City Music Hall. It ends by confirming a premiere date of Sunday, May 4, 2025. Check out the scene below:

What Dead City Season 2’s First Scene Says About Its Return

Season 2’s first scene establishes literal and figurative power in New York City will be a key factor in the events to come. Dead City season 1 ended with Negan gaining power thanks to the Burazi, who he’s now indebted to if he wants to keep Maggie’s son safe. But Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles) is also going to be returning to the Big Apple, tasked by the New Babylon Federation to learn more about how Walkers are being turned into methane to power Manhattan.

An ongoing Walking Dead feud has been a major storyline since 2016, but Dead City season 2 finally has the chance to end the rivalry for good.

Since season 2 consists of eight episodes, as opposed to season 1’s six, the show has more time to delve into New York’s power dynamics, both physical and social. New groups and faces getting added to the cast of Dead City, like Kim Coates’ Bruegel, will allow these ideas to be explored in a variety of different ways. However, the Walker’s fate implies a fight over the city’s literal power supply is going to be the core focus of the season, with Maggie, Negan, Hershel, and Perlie getting caught in the middle.

Our Take On The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2’s First Scene

Establishing The Season’s Focus Right Away

With how immediately season 2 is establishing the methane as an important story element, the power dynamics across Manhattan are going to be central to how the show’s next story plays out. This is being combined with Negan and Maggie’s ongoing feud, indicating their own tense relationship can be woven into the themes of the season. With Dead City a little more than two months away, it won’t be long until more of New York’s power struggle is revealed.