The Walking Dead spin-off centered on Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon will be set in France, Scott M. Gimple has confirmed. The franchise's chief content officer also revealed that the show will be linked to the post-credits epilogue of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Quelle surprise!
"Daryl is a fish out of water to start with. If Daryl finds himself with new people, he's a fish out of water. In France, in a country that's going through the apocalypse, [it's] an entirely different thing," the executive producer said during the Talking Dead: The Walking Dead Universe Preview 2022 special. "He finds himself having to reinvent himself again, having to find himself again, and also, not being with – probably – the only people in the world he's comfortable with."
Following its final ever episode, which aired in early December 2021, The Walking Dead: World Beyond offered up a scene in which a French doctor (Carey Van Driest) was seen listening back to old transmissions from virologist Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich), the CDC guy that Rick Grimes and the gang ran into back in The Walking Dead season 1. In one of the videos, the scientist notes that there are super fast "variants" of walkers that have been spotted in the vicinity and are potentially man-made – which is something Daryl will find himself discovering in the new show.
"[It] is a bit of a tease of some of the things Daryl is going to face," Gimple added. A crossbow may not cut it when it comes to these speedy guys.
While some Walking Dead fans have been left confused by the news that Daryl will be journeying overseas, it's worth remembering that the Civil Republic Military, who were a big part of World Beyond, still operate the odd helicopter and aircraft. So it's likely everyone's favorite survivor – along with a pilot buddy? – hijacks one of those when the main show concludes.
When the yet-to-be-titled Daryl spin-off was first announced in September 2020, the original's showrunner Angela Kang teased that it would see Daryl and Melissa McBride's Carol Peletier go on a "zombie apocalypse road trip". McBride later dropped out of the project due to the location-hopping required during filming.
The Walking Dead returns for the final time, with season 11's third installment, on October 2. It will air on AMC in the US and Disney Plus (via Star) in the UK. While we wait, why not take a trip down memory lane with our look back at the best Walking Dead episodes. If you're not already subscribed, then sign up to Disney Plus here.
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