The Walking Dead boss is confident that the zombie franchise could run for another 15 years: "As long as we have terrific characters, it can go on and on"

It's been 15 years since The Walking Dead premiered on our TV screens and, during that time, the original show has spawned 11 seasons and multiple spin-off series. Now, chief content officer Scott M. Gimple has shared his hopes for the future of the franchise, claiming it could go on until 2040 and beyond in theory.

"I do see that potential," he says in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 on the cover and hits newsstands on Wednesday, April 23. "The Walking Dead is about compelling characters in an unforgiving world, but one that is not without hope.

"Because the stakes are so high, the choices these characters make define them and change them, one way or another. That's the stuff of a great story. And the scariness, the action, the emotion, the discovery… That can go on and on, as long as we have some terrific characters."

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"There are characters from every Walking Dead series that I would love to tell stories with again, some picking up from the last time we saw them, maybe seeing some after a lot of time has passed," Gimple goes on. "Robert Kirkman created indelible, addictive characters and we've always just tried to keep pace with him."

For now, The Walking Dead fans are eagerly anticipating the second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City, which'll reunite us with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in Manhattan. Last time we saw them, The Croat (Željko Ivanek) had delivered the latter to the Dama (Lisa Emery), who explained to Negan that she wants to use him to unite NYC's various communities in a fight against the New Babylon Federation. Elsewhere, Maggie discovered that the Dama cut off her son Hershel's toe and continues to threaten him as a means to convince Negan to align with her campaign.

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 releases on May 4 in the US, before landing sometime in June in the UK. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, April 23. Check out the cover you need to be looking out for on newsstands below...