The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus Teases Reunions in Daryl Spinoff

Norman Reedus is riding solo in The Walking Dead spinoff following the exit of co-star Melissa McBride, but the Daryl Dixon actor teases reunions "down the road." AMC Networks set Reedus and McBride to lead the untitled Daryl and Carol spinoff after the series finale of The Walking Dead, a zombie apocalypse road trip with a lighter tone. But McBride, unable to relocate overseas and requiring a break after 12 years on the flagship series, dropped out of co-leading the spinoff weeks before the start of production. Reedus' Daryl Dixon spinoff will be set and filmed in Europe this summer.

"Twelve years is a grueling schedule and she wanted to take some time off, so she's doing that," Reedus said of McBride on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "She deserves it." 

In a statement, AMC said the move to Europe "became logistically untenable" for McBride, adding: "We very much hope to see Carol again in the near future." 

"I imagine those characters are gonna meet back up at some point and I might even meet up with some other characters down the road," Reedus teased. "But she's taking time off and in the meantime, they were like, 'Hey, you wanna go on a mission?' And I'm like, 'Yeah! Let's go on a mission.'"

Carol isn't the only character whose story will remain open when The Walking Dead ends after a final eight episodes later this year. Michonne (Danai Gurira) exited the flagship series in Season 10, setting off with a mysterious new group to find the missing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). 

Daryl spent six years searching for Rick's body after his "brother" appeared to die in a bridge explosion in Season 9. But Rick survived, disappearing with Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) aboard a Civic Republic Military helicopter. Shortlived spinoff The Walking Dead: World Beyond confirmed Jadis traded Rick to the CRM for entry into the Civic Republic, a secret civilization of 200,000 survivors located in Philadelphia.

It's yet to be revealed why — or how — Daryl travels to Europe in Reedus' Walking Dead spinoff. It could tie into World Beyond, which ended with a post-credits scene set in a French lab and the reveal that a team of doctors inadvertently created a new walker variant faster and stronger than the zombies in America. 

"I want a Rick and Daryl reunion," Reedus told ComicBook last summer. "I don't want it to be for nothing. I don't want it to be cheap. I want it to be a real thing. [The Daryl-Rick relationship is] one of the most powerful relationships on the show, and for me personally, one of my most favorite relationships to play."

Asked if Rick and Daryl might reunite in the planned Walking Dead film trilogy with Lincoln, Reedus answered, "I don't think anybody knows what's going on with the movies now. I hear different answers from different groups. So I think it's kind of still up in the air what the movie thing is going to be. I think it's ...changed perspective a couple of times."

"I don't know anything about it," Reedus said. "I'm just going to leave it at that."

The Walking Dead returns with its final eight episodes this fall, followed by the premiere of Reedus' Daryl Dixon spinoff in 2023 on AMC and AMC+. 

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