Norman Reedus Teases "Totally Different" Walking Dead Spinoff Series
The Walking Dead will live again when Norman Reedus returns as Daryl Dixon in his own spinoff set at AMC. Reedus says the still-untitled Daryl solo series, which will no longer co-star Melissa McBride as Carol, will be "completely different" from the flagship show ending this year after eleven seasons. AMC announced in September 2020 that original series stars Reedus and McBride would lead the Daryl-Carol spinoff following the final season of The Walking Dead, described as a "road show" by co-creator Angela Kang. In April, McBride bowed out because relocating for the spinoff — which will be set in and shot in Europe this year — became "logistically untenable" for the fan-favorite Walking Dead star.
In a recent interview with Leo Edit, Reedus said of his Walking Dead future, "There's gonna be a spinoff, and it'll be me alone, and I'll be on this mission, and those characters will come back together later on down the road, of course; and other characters that have gone missing, I'll probably run into."
Reedus added: "But the spinoff will look totally different from [The Walking Dead]. It'll be completely different. And to be honest, you wouldn't wanna do this show as a spinoff exactly the same by yourself, it's terrifying."
Kang and TWD chief content officer Scott Gimple conceived the Daryl series as a stripped-down, lighter-toned "road show" with Reedus and McBride. In April, AMC confirmed ER's David Zabel replaced Kang as showrunner, who will remain an executive producer.
After eleven seasons and 12 years as the zombie apocalypse archer, Reedus says his Walking Dead spinoff is taking Daryl into new territory.
"If you look back to my history on [The Walking Dead], I've just been fighting nonstop, like all I do is fight, fight, fight; I never get nice things, I'm constantly… If I find something I like, it's taken away from me [laughs]," Reedus said. "You know, people are funny, they're like, 'I've never seen this show. Do you cry on this show?' I'm like, can you f—ing… All I do is cry. All I do is cry and scream and fight. It's all I do. It's exhausting."
Reedus continued, "So I just wanna see something different. Automatically, the geography will be different. The people will be different, and I imagine I won't understand what the hell people are talking about for the most part [laughs], because I don't think my character speaks any other languages. I just wanna see something different. I want the tone to be different. I want the look to be different."
The Daryl Dixon spinoff will shoot this year for a 2023 premiere on AMC. The final eight episodes of The Walking Dead air later this year.
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