Melissa McBride Exits ‘The Walking Dead’ Spinoff About Daryl & Carol
Don’t Be a Braindead Walker
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Knowing there are multiple spinoffs coming may have made The Walking Dead ending with only eight more episodes a bit easier to stomach. But now you’ll be saying goodbye to a character you thought you’d get to see again, after the latest news about the spinoff centered around Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride).
That spinoff is being restructured as a show about just Daryl, with McBride not part of the cast, according to TVLine. According to the report, “the decision…was purely a creative one.” And according to a statement from AMC (via The Hollywood Reporter), it was due to a change in location and McBride’s.
“Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, she is no longer able to participate in the previously announced spinoff focused on the Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier characters, which will be set and filmed in Europe this summer and premiere next year. Relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time. We know fans will be disappointed by this news, but The Walking Dead Universe continues to grow and expand in interesting ways and we very much hope to see Carol again in the near future.”
The planned Daryl and Carol spinoff was announced at the same time that the news came that The Walking Dead would be ending with an expanded 11th season. Executive producer Angela Kang previously described it as “more of a road show.”
“Of course, I’ve always enjoyed working so closely with Norman throughout these many seasons. In playing Carol, and as a viewer of the show, I’ve also long been intrigued with ‘Daryl and Carol,’ and by what so early on between them, even then, felt somehow bound,” McBride said in a statement when the spinoff was announced. “Their shared history is long, and each’s own personal fight to survive, even longer — the more obvious aspect of what has kept them close and loyal. But there is also a rather mysterious aspect to their fondness for one another that I enjoy, and their playfulness when the world permits. I’m very curious! Angela has a way of shaking things up in great and unexpected ways. She’s like a kid playing with the dimmer switch! I’m very excited!”
This news comes a month and a half after AMC announced Isle of the Dead, a spinoff with Lauren Cohan‘s Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan‘s Negan, set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan. The other spinoff still to come is the anthology Tales of the Walking Dead. Fear the Walking Dead is currently airing its seventh season, and The Walking Dead: World Beyond has wrapped its two seasons.
