The Walking Dead's Daryl Spinoff Loses Showrunner Days After Melissa McBride Exit
One of the upcoming spinoff series of The Walking Dead has been hit with another major change. On Friday, it was confirmed that the upcoming Daryl Dixon-centered spinoff series will be changing showrunners, with current The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang stepping down from her work on the spinoff series. Kang is expected to still serve as executive producer on the series, and reportedly stepped aside to focus on other projects she has in the works at AMC. Stumptown and Mercy Street alum David Zabel will be stepping in as the new showrunner on the currently-untitled series, which is expected to debut sometime in 2023.
"The Walking Dead flagship series has been my creative home for a decade and so it's bittersweet to bring it to an end, but I could not be more excited to be working with Scott Gimple and AMC to develop a new series for Daryl and Carol," Kang said when the spinoff was announced. "Working with Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride has been a highlight of my career and I'm thrilled that we get to keep telling stories together."
This comes just days after the news that Melissa McBride, who was poised to reprise has role as Carol Peletier on the spinoff series, has exited the project, reportedly due to the fact that it will be filming in Europe. Zabel's deal with the series was reportedly sealed prior to McBride's exit. A "strategic pivot" is reportedly taking place for the series, ahead of production starting in the next two or three months.
"Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe," AMC said in a statement provided to Insider's Kirsten Acuna. "Unfortunately, she is no longer able to participate in the previously announced spin-off 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."
This spinoff series is one of several that has been in the works for The Walking Dead, including Isle of the Dead, a spinoff centered around Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) which will film in New York.
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h/t: Deadline