What Does the Future Hold for Carol Peletier in ‘TWD’ Universe? 5 Theories

Emily Hannemann May 2, 2022, 2:00 pm

The Walking Dead star Melissa McBride — Gene Page/AMC

Just because Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) won’t be in the as-yet-untitled Daryl (Norman Reedus) spinoff, it doesn’t mean heartbroken Carol fans will never see her again. The TWD Universe is far from done, and there are plenty of places she might show up again. Here are a few of them.

Fear the Walking Dead

For a show that was initially pitched as not crossing over with The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead has crossed over quite a bit. Why not do a time jump and throw one more TWD original into the mix? Carol and Morgan (Lennie James) had an intriguing dynamic on the main show that never got the conclusion it deserved, and it could be compelling to see Carol interact with other Fear fan faves like Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Victor Strand (Colman Domingo). Plus, we’d be eager to see how she’d get along with Madison (Kim Dickens). Would they be friends? Enemies? We’re pretty sure that together, they’d be unstoppable.

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan

Josh Stringer/AMC

Isle of the Dead

Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan will be heading to New York once the main show concludes. Who’s to say Carol couldn’t go with them? She has a unique relationship with Negan in that he seems to appreciate and respect her, and she…well, doesn’t seem to utterly despise him or want him dead. (He did kill Alpha [Samantha Morton] for her, after all.) Carol and Maggie have been friends for seasons—remember “The Same Boat” back in Season 8?—although Carol’s sort-of alliance with Negan bothered Maggie back when Maggie really wanted Negan dead all the time. Yeah, we think Carol would fit in plenty well on Isle of the Dead. Plus, how cool would it be to see her go all Terminus in New York?

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The Rick Movies

If these movies start progressing soon, we think it’s almost a guarantee Carol would appear. As one of three main characters who survived from Atlanta to the Commonwealth, it feels right that she’d be part of whatever journey comes with rescuing Rick. Fans hoping for a Carol-Daryl reunion might get one here, too, considering it’s a safe bet Daryl would show up.

Tales of the Walking Dead

Since Tales is an anthology series, it’s possible Carol could make an appearance—either for a flashback episode set during one of the show’s time jumps or for a flash-forward to conclude her story if her ending on The Walking Dead is still tied to the Daryl spinoff. An episode set during her exile in Season 4 might be interesting—Season 5’s “Consumed” really only skimmed the surface of that time period. And Tales has already indicated it’s going to delve into characters from the main show, since Samantha Morton will be making an appearance as Alpha.

Josh Stringer/AMC

A Future Spinoff

With the way things are going in TWDU, even if Carol doesn’t appear in a currently airing or announced spinoff, it doesn’t mean she won’t show up in something, eventually. Who knows what’s being discussed? Maybe Carol will get her own spinoff at some point.

The Walking Dead, Season 11C premiere, October 2022, AMC