The Walking Dead: Daryl & Carol spinoff will be very different from main series

When it was first announced that The Walking Dead would be coming to an end next year, AMC also revealed that the series would live on with a spinoff following Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride). Given that the two characters have been with the series since the very beginning, it’s easy to assume that The Walking Dead spinoff will be more of the same, but Norman Reedus has assured fans that it couldn’t be more different.

“I can’t tell you a whole lot about the spinoff,” Norman Reedus said while answering fan questions for IMDb. “I can tell you that it won’t look anything like The Walking Dead. It won’t look like an episode of Walking Dead with just Daryl and Carol. It’ll be completely different.” Reedus reiterated his belief while speaking with The Wrap, saying, “When we do come back for more, I think it’s gonna be a very different look, a very different show, a very different feel.” If you read between the lines, I think the main takeaway is that The Walking Dead spinoff will be… different. As we will have gone through eleven seasons of grim zombie action (not counting Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond) by the time The Walking Dead comes to a close, something a little different will be most welcome.

The Walking Dead spinoff has been created by Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang and Walking Dead franchise CCO Scott Gimple. “The next chapter with Daryl and Carol will be a great deal about discovery,” Gimple said in a statement last year. “A new world, a new tone, a new frontier of story and purpose – all while carrying the lessons learned from the people who have made up their apocalypse family, their hard-won victories, and painful losses.” Kang and Gimple have described the spinoff as a road show with a different (there’s that word again!) tone from the original; in fact, Kang has said that “it’s meant to be a little lighter” than the main series. I’ll admit to having fallen off The Walking Dead bandwagon in recent years, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be checking out the Daryl and Carol spinoff. I just can’t stay away.