THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
2024: Preview of the Dead: Part 3 - TV & Others
2024 shambles onward and, so far, we've covered the movies and upcoming games - both showing a reassuring upward trend. Now it's time to look at the TV shows and other Zombie content like books and real-life Zombie events. While, unfortunately, it does not show the same boom as the previous two chapters of the 2024 preview articles, it does contain enough much-hyped content to show there is still plenty of life left in the old deadheads yet.
First, the rules.
- Any withering sap that was announced for last year, that missed it's release window, moves to the dreaded MIA section of this year's list of terror.
- If an unfortunate project of torment languished in the MIA pit of 2023's preview article, and has seen no hellish news of continued reanimation, it is removed forthwith, banished into the eternal embrace of Hell's abomination.
The new stuff
TV programmes
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol
The second season of the Daryl Dixon spin-off show sees the return of a familiar face
Despite its somewhat confusing name, this is actually the second season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Not much information has been released other than the short trailer that confirms the character from the main The Walking Dead series, Carol (played by Melissa McBride), will be joining Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) in France, continuing their fight with the living dead. It is interesting to note that it was always planned to have these two characters together from the get go for this spin-off - until Melissa McBride got cold feet.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
This is a landmark show for The Walking Dead fans as it marks the franchise return of original group leader, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) for the first time since season 9. Michonne (Danai Gurira) will be joining Rick, with the series exploring their continuing love story in a world overrun by evil - both from the living and the dead. While not confirmed, it is very likely we will find out what happened to Rick after he was, near death, transported away on the helicopter with Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh).
The Last Of Us season 2
Following the monumental success of the first season of HBO's adaption of Zombie game The Last of Us, it is no surprise that a second season has been confirmed. While the first season covered the events of the first game, the second will handle the game's sequel. Cast have been recruited and the same production crew return. However, it will likely be into 2025 before we see this one; filming was meant to start late last year but, due to the writers' and actors' strikes, it was delayed.
Generation Z
Generation Z is a Zombie-comedy series with strong political and generational plotlines. After a chemical leak outside a care-home in the fictional town of Dambury, a Zombie outbreak occurs as the old-age pensioners within are turned into the living dead, with a hunger for human flesh. The official synopsis: "Generation Z is about intergenerational justice and community breakdown that boldly satirizes a world where truth is stranger than fiction, exploring not just the political fault lines in our society but also the very real issues facing teenagers today". The series is written and directed by Ben Wheatley (director of Meg 2: The Trench).
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2
The next season of The Walking Dead franchise spin-off Dead City has been confirmed by AMC. No information on the 2nd season has been given but it is fair to assume that both Maggie and Negan will return, their strained friendship being tested yet again. The setting will again, it is assumed, be Manhattan Island and, yes, it will still be filled with walking dead people. With nothing more to go on than a vague 'it is happening' teaser trailer, I would not hold out hope of seeing this air before late 2024.
Books
Zombie Down (Diary of the Undead: Book 1)
This book, releasing February 14th, tells the story of one woman's struggle of survival in a world overrun with ravenous dead told from her point of view - who she meets, what she does and any survival tips she learns along the way.
Zombie Prowl (Diary of the Undead: Book 2)
Coming May 1st is the next book in the Diary of the Dead book series; both books must have been written, back-to-back. The woman from the first story, having somehow joined a fellow survivor, decide to venture outside for the first time after a month of being holed-up in their shelter. What they find, shocks them to the core.
Others
The Dead Times
With our fabled website of undeath having shuffled across the 10-year mark last November, and during the bleak winter of emptiness for many Zombie things that was 2023, I was going to stop updating The Dead Times. However, after writing these initial preview articles, Zombiism appears to be reinfecting our modern culture; the number of movies, games and (to a lesser extent) TV shows, on the putrid horizon increasing dramatically - the recent announcement of Twilight of the Dead getting a director and the conformation that 28 Years Later is finally happening are major events that have reignited my passion for Zombies. The Dead Times will stay and I will continue working on it - bringing you news on these upcoming terrors as well as the usual reviews and other articles. I will, however, be taking a break from the semi-weekly updates I had been doing and settling in to a more relaxed, freeform schedule. In addition, I may broaden the scope of the project with a game, a book or YouTube creation all being a possibility.
Zombie Experiences in the UK
Castle Horror is back, along with loads of other Zombie experiences and scare attractions
There continues to be real-life Zombie experiences in the UK (and across the world, though I won't focus on these), where people dress up as Zombies of all backgrounds, both living and dead, to scare the pants off paying participants. Some exhibits are closing down this year such as Zombie Infection, having completed a "storyline" spanning multiple years, while others are just starting up, Zombie Uprising for example - proving that the dead never truly die. This includes the marvellous Castle Horror - a group to which I am a member - having returned after a long hiatus, branching out from dedicated Zombiism to more typical, yet equally terrifying, haunts.
MIA
All of Us are Dead season 2
A second series of the hit Korean Zombie show is in the works and is said to air in 2024
There are mixed signals regarding the status of the second season of All of Us are Dead, South Korea's show about a Zombie outbreak at a school. Season 2 was confirmed, by Netflix, to be happening shortly after season 1 took the Internet by storm in 2021. Since then, silence. In March of 2023, one of the main actors from the first season posted on Twitter (or X, to use its modern, disgusting name) that filming on season two had not yet begun. Just last month, Netflix gave the second season a release window for this year. I'm really not sure what to believe; if filming was not completed late last year, on the sly and in secret, I doubt it'll be released this year - filming an entire season's worth of episodes, editing them and getting a final product to air within one year would seem an impossible task.
Marvel Zombies
The latest news on this animated spin-off series where the main Marvel heroes - Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Captain America and so on - have all been turned into Zombies with a mindless lust for flesh yet retaining their superhero powers, is simply that there isn't any news. Development is still, allegedly, underway but with no firm release date or even any further update on the situation, seeing this show come to life in 2024 is highly unlikely.
DESCRIPTION:
Continuing the article series previewing Zombies things coming in 2024, we come to the third entry; a peek behind the curtain of decay at the TV programmes and other monstrosities shambling their way into your mortal lives this year.
CATEGORY:
Preview of the Dead
WRITTEN BY:
DATE UPLOADED:
04/02/2024