'The Walking Dead' showrunner says it's 'very weird' to know how the show will end, and shares how she hopes to stick the finale landing

"We're almost to the halfway point for the season. We're filming all year," Kang recently told Insider via phone to discuss the show's 11th season.

The showrunner has been working on a version of season 11 since early last year. The pandemic delayed pre-production on the season. Then AMC announced a bonus six episodes for season 10. Shortly after, last fall, the network announced season 11 would have more episodes, but would be the show's last. (It might've come as a surprise to cast and fans since in 2017, "TWD" universe chief, Scott Gimple, claimed the show could go on for 20 years.)

Kang, who has been a writer on the show since season two before taking over as showrunner on season nine, has 24 episodes to wrap up the long-running zombie series. Though she and her writers know where Robert Kirkman's comic of the same name ends, much of the final season will see small and large deviations from its source material.

That's largely because "TWD" contains a different cast of characters than who remain in the comic, presenting a unique challenge where they can't adapt the comic ending outright. That's not the worst thing. The final arc of the comic's a bit slow-moving and one of the least interesting before shockingly killing off its protagonist, Rick Grimes, and skipping ahead 25 years.

On the show, Rick is currently missing and may stay that way until AMC's first "TWD" movie. Daryl and Carol, characters who either don't exist in the comic or were killed off early in the series run, are now two of the show leads along with Negan who peaces out of the comics for about 20 issues after the Whisperer story arc.

Heading into the final season, Kang spoke about ending a show she's worked on for so long, if viewers can expect to see any familiar faces on the final season like Rick and Michonne (Kang wouldn't budge), and about the pressure to stick the landing to what is still (believe it or not) one of the most-watched cable shows.

Kang knows how 'TWD' will end and it's a 'very weird' feeling

Insider: When we last spoke in March, you said you were still working on mapping out all the details for the final season. Where are you at now? Do you know how "The Walking Dead" ends?

Kang: Yes, I believe I know how "The Walking Dead" ends. We pitched it all out to AMC and everybody's on board. Of course, like, as we get into individual episodes, we're still kind of refining ... but the roadmap is firmly in place at this point.

Wow. That has to be weird.

Very weird [laughter].

How does that make you feel, knowing how it's going to end? You've worked on the show since season two. Have you had an idea for years of where it may go, or no? I know ["TWD" creator Robert] Kirkman said that when the comic ended he knew for about four years [how it would end].

We even knew, internally, working on the show. We had guesses [for how it ends]. "Well, we think it kind of goes to" ... [Kirkman] set up this kind of father-son story, but even then he managed to kind of surprise us with exactly how he ended [it]. Obviously, we don't have the same array of characters and so I think some of our thoughts in terms of specifics have changed over time, but I think in terms of telling one story that sort thematically points in a direction, I think we've had that in mind for a while. It's just the specifics are what they are in the year 2021, you know?

Kang hopes they can stick the finale landing despite the show deviating so much from the comics

After learning season 11 would be the show's last, I'm sure there's a lot of pressure to stick the landing and get the final season and the finale right. Have you looked back at other long-running successful shows - "Lost," "Game of Thrones," - as templates of what to do or what not to do in a final season?

All of us that work in television, to a certain extent, we're also just big geeks about what it is to make film and TV. So we're studying it, anyway. But, I think, at the same time, every show has its own kind of vibe and, ultimately, as a storyteller, you're trying to dig into what you think the show is about and what is the story you've been telling, even if you're just kind of generating.

For a longer running show, it's really hard. For us, we really hope that we tell a story that entertains people along the way, that helps them feel things, where they get to follow some of their favorite characters and see what they're up to.

We have an idea about the themes and meaning for some people and where that all lands. Hopefully, we stick it. We definitely don't want to not stick it, but, you know, at a certain point that part is out of your control. We can just control what we can control.

I always thought it was interesting that both "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead" were both based off of two very popular ongoing series as they were still being written. Unfortunately, "Game of Thrones" got ahead of the books and it may have hurt it a little bit in its final season. So I always thought that you guys had an advantage in being able to stick the landing and deliver it better just because you guys know exactly how the comic was supposed to end.

We've been really lucky in having the comic book as a guide, but ... so many of the characters that are in the comic book at the end don't line up exactly with who we have on the show at the end for a variety of reasons. So there's obviously some creativity that we've had to apply related to that.

Kang won't say whether or not Andrew Lincoln, or Danai Gurira, or other faces may return on the final season to tease 'TWD' movie

Can we expect to see any guest stars or unexpected faces on the final season? I ask because it's become a cliché for big shows to have celebrities pop up in their final seasons. Sometimes that takes away from the main focus of the show.

The only thing we do with celebs is sometimes - and celebs is a relative term, I suppose for us - for example, we got Robert Patrick for an episode, who's a huge celeb for people in our world, but I think he's also a great character actor. We cast him, not as a stunt, but because he truly was great for the role and casting brought him to us. So it's more like that.

If we have anybody that's sort of a well-known character actor, the only time we ever do that, it's just because casting's, like, "You know, they're available and they'd be really good for this role." We never do it just to kind of stunt it for those kinds of reasons.

Well, I have to ask, what about returning characters? I'm not sure how much you could even say, but is there a possibility we'll see any old faces return, whether it's Danai Gurira, who left the show on season 10 or Andy Lincoln? We know Michonne is off on this journey to find Rick. I have to imagine that loose end will maybe be tied up in these 24 episodes or maybe it will lead into the first "Walking Dead" movie that we've been waiting for since 2018.

[Laughter] As I'm saying to anybody that kind of asks questions in this realm, I can't really get into it because there's a whole universe involved, but I always appreciate that there is interest out there in those questions.

OK. I have to ask.

You have to ask. I get it [laughter].

When you look at what you want to accomplish in this final season, have you considered bringing anyone else back from previous seasons to close the loop on certain story lines whether that's Georgie, who gets some shout outs in the premiere episodes, the Vatos, who maybe are still out there, or even Heath, though he's probably with the CRM? We discussed that a long time ago.

In any season that we're doing, we do ask ourselves questions like, "Is it useful to bring somebody back or not?" "Does that contribute to the story?" Without getting into any specifics, it's something that we consider, but we rarely do. So, that's not to say yes or no. It's more about our process of thinking about it. If it's relevant for the story, then we'll think about doing it.

Daryl's going to have a lot going on in the final season

I spoke with Norman Reedus last week and asked if we get some closure between Daryl and Connie, or Daryl and Leah, or Daryl and Carol, or all three. He mentioned the phrase, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" and that it applies to one of those women. It sounds like Daryl's going to be busy. What can you tease there?

[Bursts out in laughter] There's obviously just a lot going on for Daryl and various connections that he has to people. So I'll just say that he intersects with many people in a variety of ways. I think what he said is pretty accurate.

Kang is excited for fans to see their version of the Commonwealth story play out

As I wrap, what else are you excited for this season?

[Negan/Maggie] that's definitely one of the relationships that I think is really fun to watch evolve over time. There's some really great stuff that Norman is doing as Daryl that I just can't wait for for people to see. I just think he really shines in some scenes, as always.

And I'm excited to intro more of the Commonwealth because any time we get to a new community there's always interesting characters and shenanigans abound. I hope people will stick around and kind of watch what happens.

You can read our review of the first two episodes of "TWD's" final season here and follow along with our coverage all season long here. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. "TWD" premieres its final season on AMC on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. It's currently available to stream on AMC+.