‘The Walking Dead’: Meet Daryl’s New Dog

The Walking Dead has finally granted Norman Reedus the wish of Daryl having a dog.

Daryl’s four-legged friend won’t be introduced to The Walking Dead in Sunday night’s episode but is primed for a debut before 2018’s Season Nine run comes to a close. The pup was revealed in a preview for the three remaining episodes in Season Nine’s first half, with Daryl needing to fill the void left by his brother Rick Grimes exiting. While the audience knows Rick survived and flew off with Jadis for a movie trilogy, Daryl thinks Rick went down with the explosion on the bridge.

While visiting the set of The Walking Dead, ComicBook.com heard from Reedus about working with a dog on set for the first time, something he is quite excited about.

“It’s so good,” Reedus said. “I love it. I think he’s the smartest cast member we got. We just did a scene the other day that ended up being the opposite of what it was supposed to be because the dog just wanted to do something else, and it came out so much better. He’ll probably be running the show. It’s great! I love it. He loves me, too.”

In Andrew Lincoln’s absence, The Walking Dead has an opportunity to build other characters up in ways it otherwise wouldn’t with the lead character dominating screen time. There won’t be one character who fills that void. “I don’t think anyone’s gonna step up and be Rick,” Reedus said. “Everybody on the show is gonna step up and elevate their game and fill that hole. I don’t think there could be a new Rick. I know the internet’s like, ‘Screw, Norman! Who does he think he is?’ I’ve just got to sit there go, ‘Oh, whatever.’ Everybody sort of steps up to the plate.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.

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