Daryl Dixon Director Teases Norman Reedus’ Walking Dead Spinoff (Exclusive)

Warning: this story contains spoilers for The Walking Dead series finale, “Rest in Peace.” “Sometimes I think we’re just surviving one fight to the next,” Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) once told best friend Carol (Melissa McBride) on The Walking Dead. When Carol proposed they take Daryl’s bike and “go out on the road, head out west,” Daryl suggested New Mexico. What’s in the post-apocalyptic Land of Enchantment? It was about what’s not. “No more fighting,” Daryl explained. “Just get on the bike and go. See who’s left.” In the end, Daryl may have done just that on Sunday night’s series finale of The Walking Dead.

The series closer, titled “Rest in Peace,” ended with Daryl and Carol surviving one more fight, this time to take back the Commonwealth from the corrupt elitist Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins). When a time jump caught up with the survivors one year later, a conversation with Connie (Lauren Ridloff) revealed where Daryl ended up: “What’s up cowboy? How’s the frontier?” Connie asked in sign language. “Quiet,” Daryl signed back. “For now.” 

It appears Daryl did head out west, but without Carol. That’s because Carol has become Deputy Governor of the Commonwealth, working as part of a new administration that includes ex-husband Ezekiel (Khary Payton) as Governor.

Daryl also learned the truth that Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming) has kept secret since Season 10, the real reason why mom Michonne (Danai Gurira)has been gone so long: Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is alive, and Michonne is trying to find him. 

“When I’m out there, if I hear anything, see anything,” Daryl told Judith, “I’ll find them both and I’ll bring them home.” With that, Daryl rode off into the almost-sunset. When we last saw Daryl, he was riding down a road that leads to… Paris, France?!

The crossbow-wielding zombie apocalypse survivor will return in AMC’s Daryl Dixon spin-off, which will “follow Daryl as he wakes up and finds himself somewhere on the European continent and tries to piece together what happened,” according to AMC president Dan McDermott. “How did he get here? How’s he going to get home?” Originally developed as the Daryl & Carol spin-off, the reworked series now focuses on Reedus’ character after McBride was unable to relocate to Europe. 

“I don’t want to say too much. I just think that it really sort of embraces a Stranger In a Strange Land kind of scenario, where we’re exploring post-apocalyptic Europe through the eyes of Daryl Dixon,” executive producer Greg Nicotero, who directed The Walking Dead series finale, exclusively told ComicBook of the new series. 

Nicotero and Reedus have been over in France for production on the six-episode first season, which began filming in October with Clémence Poésy and Adam Nagaitis joining the cast of the Walking Dead spin-off. 

“I got to say, we’ve had a great time. It really just is a different animal,” Nicotero said. “And I even was sort of surprised, myself, standing on set and going, ‘I’ve been on Walking Dead for 12 years and here we are.’ But it feels fresh and it feels new. And David Zabel, our showrunner, has been an absolute joy to collaborate with. And it’s been really fun.”

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is slated to premiere in 2023 on AMC and AMC+, along with The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.