Since its 2010 debut, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” has been a television show swarming with fan theories and constant speculation, especially when it comes to the main characters and their futures. As the Robert Kirkman and Frank Darabont-helmed series comes to a close, fans have started turning their attention towards the franchise’s planned spinoffs, which include the recently announced “Isle of the Dead” series featuring characters Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffery Dean Morgan). As of right now, not much is known about the future project, other than the fact it’ll take place in New York City for some undisclosed reason — and that fans have started speculating as to why.

With Season 11 getting ready to wrap up, viewers naturally assume that the “Walking Dead” producers and writers will somehow connect Maggie and Negan’s stories to the Big Apple and give them a reason to venture there. According to AMC exec Dan McDermott, the network is looking to “explore a corner of [the Walking Dead] universe located on the island of Manhattan, with an iconic skyline that takes on a very different meaning when viewed through the lens of a zombie apocalypse.” But what exactly will bring Maggie and Negan to the City That (No Longer) Never Sleeps? Some “TWD” fans have come up with an idea.

As pointed out by ScreenRant, fans of “The Walking Dead” reportedly believe that Maggie and Negan could end up going to New York in search for a secret underground base that supposedly houses a cure for the zombie apocalypse. The reasoning behind this can be found in another “TWD” spinoff and limited series, “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” which aired two seasons from October 2020 to December 2021.

In that show, there’s a facility in the Empire State where scientists from the CRM (Civic Republic Military) were testing a bio-weapon that could possibly eradicate Walkers on a mass scale by using a yeast-based fungus to accelerate their rate of decay. The scientists fled the CRM and established the underground base in Ithaca, NY, which is roughly 200 miles from Manhattan. The going theory suggests that Maggie and Negan could be going to NYC to meet the scientists or someone who possibly knows about them — like Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) perhaps. As we already know, Rick was whisked away by a CRM helicopter during his final “TWD” moments in Season 9, and it’s never been revealed where he’s been.

“I am convinced #TWD will have Negan & Maggie journey to find Rick,” theorized one fan on Twitter. A major idea that viewers have is that Maggie and Negan could be get contacted by Rick in some way and told of the weapon/cure. “After discovering Rick is alive…Negan and Maggie plan to go to NY in search of him,” tweeted another fan, who continued, “things won’t go as planned, NY will be VERY different from what they’re used to.”