The COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually everything in one way or another, with many in-person shows canceled, postponed, or relegated to an online event.
Although theaters and theme parks have begun to re-open, the new variant of the virus has quickly turned that back around, with movies like Venom: Let There Be Carnage receiving a delayed release date and conventions like The Walking Dead Fandemic being rescheduled again.
Not to be confused with the problematic Walker-Stalker Con, which is thankfully a thing of the past, Fandemic is a brand new convention focused on The Walking Dead and other like-projects such as Evil Dead. Clearly, the event's name was poorly conceived as the irony has already come back to bite them, causing the September dates to be swapped for a March 2022 slot.
Even fans who stopped tuning into The Walking Dead were excited for the event due to the outrageous number of returning actors, despite their characters having died seasons prior. Reportedly, all of the following will still be attending the rescheduled event in 2022:
Steven Yeun (Glenn), David Morrissey (The Governor), Cooper Andrews (Jerry), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan), Cailey Fleming (Judith), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Michael Cudlitz (Abraham), Norman Reedus (Daryl), Tom Payne (Jesus), Melissa McBride (Carol), Jon Bernthal (Shane), Chandler Riggs (Carl), Cassady McClincy (Lydia), Ryan Hurst (Beta), Seth Gilliam (Father Gabriel), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori), and Nadia Hilker (Magna). In addition, Greg Nicotero will also be present along with Reedus's Boondock Saints co-stars Sean Patrick Flannery and David Della Rocco as well as Evil Dead's Bruce Campbell.
In more positive news for those who still follow The Walking Dead, eight new cast members have joined the fray for Season 11, and it's hard not to wonder if any of them will appear in multiple shows. Considering there are nearly ten The Walking Dead live-action projects in the works, some of these newly cast characters are likely to show up in more than one place, helping to further flesh out the connected universe.
Joining the cast are Laila Robins (The Boys), Josh Hamilton (13 Reasons Why), Michael James Shaw (Avengers: Infinity War), Margot Bingham (Boardwalk Empire), Jacob Young (All My Children), Laurie Fortier (Swamp Thing), and Ritchie Coster (The Dark Knight). It bodes well that over half of them have experience acting in live-action comic book properties as well.
What do you guys think of these developments? Are you planning on checking out the Fandemic convention next year or this month's Season 11 premiere?
Be sure to share your thoughts in the usual spot, and if you haven't seen the trailer for The Walking Dead Season 11, we've included it for you along with the synopsis below.
This season will adapt material from issues #175–193 of the comic book series and focuses on the group's encounter with the Commonwealth, a large network of communities that has advanced equipment and almost fifty thousand survivors living in their different settlements.
The 11th and final season of The Walking Dead premieres on August 22nd, only on AMC.