It looks like Daryl Dixon will be riding alone when he gets his own Walking Dead spinoff series. Ahead of the eleventh and final season premiere of The Walking Dead, it was announced that Norman Reedus would return as Daryl in a new series alongside Melissa McBride’s Carol Peletier. The show was to be one of several spinoffs that will keep the franchise going after the main series ends.
Per TVLine, the Daryl and Carol series has suffered a significant setback, resulting in the loss of one of its leads. McBride has backed out of the project, as this would require relocating to Europe where it’s set to be filmed. At this time, McBride isn’t able to make that work within her schedule, leading to her decision to part ways with the spinoff. This doesn’t mean the Carol character won’t show up at some point down the line, whether it’s in this Daryl-centric series or another spinoff, but for now, McBride is finished with The Walking Dead when the series finale airs.
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A statement from an AMC network representative stated the following:
“Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe. Unfortunately, she is no longer able to participate in the previously announced spinoff focused on the Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier characters, which will be set and filmed in Europe this summer and premiere next year. Relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time. We know fans will be disappointed by this news, but The Walking Dead Universe continues to grow and expand in interesting ways and we very much hope to see Carol again in the near future.”
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The Walking Dead Lives On, With or Without Carol
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It may be disappointing for many longtime fans of The Walking Dead to see a fan favorite like Carol parting ways with the franchise. The Daryl and Carol spinoff would have been interesting as these two are the only characters who’ve been with the series since the very beginning while others like Andrew Lincoln, Laurie Holden, Sarah Wayne Callies, Steven Yeun, and Chandler Riggs have moved on in years past. That comes with the territory for a series known for killing off major characters (though Lincoln’s Rick Grimes is still slated to return in a planned feature film adaptation).
Still, the franchise lives on with multiple spinoffs in the works. Aside from Daryl’s show, also announced is Isle of the Dead, another Walking Dead spinoff that follows Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Aside from that will be Tales of the Walking Dead, an anthology series that presents different standalone stories for each episode. It has been teased that some episodes of Tales of the Walking Dead could serve as prequel stories and bring back characters from the main series who were previously killed off.
Daryl’s Walking Dead spinoff will start filming in Europe this summer, with plans to premiere the show on AMC sometime in 2023.
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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been a writer and editor since 2014. He is a self-professed horror expert, pop culture enthusiast, and Bob Saget fanatic.
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