In the past week, The Walking Dead actor Melissa McBride decided that she would not be returning to the role of Carol in the spinoff that was set to follow Carol and Norman Reedus’s character, Daryl. The Walking Dead is wrapping up its final season now, and the series has planned spinoffs in the works, but with McBride’s departure, it looks like Daryl will be going on a solo adventure.
Fans got a little crazy last week, making assumptions that Reedus had something to do with the McBride’s departure, and AMC was sure to set the record straight. McBride left the project after a 12-year run on TWD to spend time with her family and relax. Now, Reedus spoke out about the situation on an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon this week, saying:
“You know, it was originally Carol and I — Melissa McBride and I. And she’s taking time off. You know, twelve years [of The Walking Dead] is a grueling schedule, and she wanted to take some time off. So She’s doing that and she deserves it.”
He went on to talk about what the series will look like now, saying:
“They kind of came to me — I imagine those characters [Daryl and Carol] are going to meet back up at some point. And might even meet up with some other characters down the road. But she’s taking time off, and in the meantime, they were like ‘Hey, do you want to go on a mission?’ And I’m like ‘Yeah let’s do it!'”
I’m glad he is still moving forward with the project. He is a great character and will be able to carry the series, no problem. Plus, it sounds like McBride is maybe not completely out of the picture. She’s just not looking to star in the whole run. It will be fun to see if she, or other familiar characters from the flagship series appear in the Daryl show, and see where this adventure takes him.