Walking Dead Shocker: Melissa McBride Exits Daryl and Carol-Centric Spinoff
AMC’s in-the-works Walking Dead spinoff centered on Norman Reedus‘ Daryl and Melissa McBride‘s Carol is undergoing a major change.
Sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that McBride will no longer be involved in the offshoot. Instead, the new series will focus on Daryl. UPDATE: Initial buzz suggested the decision to jettison Carol was a creative one, although an AMC rep maintains it was about logistics.
“Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe,” a network spokesperson said in a statement to TVLine. “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.”
Announced in September 2020, the project was to revolve around the badass BFFs played by Reedus and McBride, AKA the long-running drama’s only remaining original cast members. Walking Dead-verse chief content officer Scott M. Gimple and Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang are co-creating the series.
“It’s bittersweet to bring [the flagship series] to an end,” Kang said in a statement at the time, “but I could not be more excited to be working with Scott Gimple and AMC to develop a new series for Daryl and Carol. Working with Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride has been a highlight of my career, and I’m thrilled that we get to keep telling stories together.”
Earlier this month, The Walking Dead aired the last episode in the second of the three arcs that make up the series’ 11th and final season; one more eight-episode arc is still to come, following the conclusion of Fear the Walking Dead’s currently airing Season 7.
I don’t like Daryl like that but ok
Wow, didn’t see that coming. Wonder how Norman feels about this as those two are really close friends.
“set and filmed in Europe” How the heck does Daryl get to Europe and why. Am I reading this correctly??
I guess it’s going to follow up on the post-credits scene from the World Beyond finale, which was set in France. I’m curious to find out how Daryl will cross the Atlantic, too.
Yes, I see that now. Makes sense to tie it in to that final scene which was in France, I believe.
And what about Judith and RJ??? And all of his other “family.” It’s so hard to believe the character would leave everyone behind.
We’ll just have to wait and see how the series ends.
Both Rick and Michonne are still alive. I’m sure it is possible to reunite them somehow. If they ever actually make the movies they announced when Andrew Lincoln left the show I’m sure Judith would factor in.
.
As for this spinoff, I was never really interested to begin with. I definitely saw more chemistry with Beth, Connie, and even Leah than with Carol (Who I loved with Ezekiiel). Since they have already wrapped the series I wonder if the ending setup the sequels and do they need to do reshoots.
I have been thinking of Judith and RJ ever since the spinoff was announced Daryl promised her he’d never leave her after Michone left. So what these poor kids just gonna be passed on to someone else?
Im sure if it happens. all the europeans can speak perfect.. american…. lol
Now to be called, “Daryl and some other People”. That’s about as major a change as you could possibly have. I vote for a Connie and Daryl team-up. Daryl, Connie and Dog on an adventure. It would be a very quiet show and I can dig it…Oddly I’m not particularly upset about this. It does make me wonder if they made a considerable left turn with how her story ends on the original series. I guess her fate now goes back in the air.
I’d go for this as long as her annoying sister doesn’t tag along.
Yes…I like Connie for Daryl. Beth was always my favorite for him and I’m still upset that she’s gone but I never EVER saw any sexual chemistry with Carol. She has always come across as an older sister to me. I love Darrell‘s personality but I absolutely hate his hair… when he first came on the show I liked it and then it grew into this disgusting dirty emu cut but it’s become his signature look now so I’m sure he’ll never get rid of it.
They’re the same age but Carol’s hair has always made her appear older than Daryl. She was also already more mature because she’d been married & was a mother while Daryl was just kicking it with Merle doing stupid stuff which he told Beth in the episode they burned his house down.
I totally agree about his hair, every time I see him my first thought is doesn’t he ever bathe and can’t someone please cut his hair out of his face.
Yup, total B.S.
Actually Carol won’t die because they a;ready finished filming TWD final episode before Melissa left the spin off, and from what the Producer stated months ago the final episode is supposed to set up the 2 spin offs, the daryl and carol and the Maggie and Negan spin offs, not they have to fugure out how to explain why Carol is gone, where did she go
Things can be reshot after filming wraps.
I wonder if that was always the plan and this was to trick us. I think she may get a Rick grimes like comic book death in the last part of the series. She was my favorite character and would of been the only reason I would have watched this.
I was thinking the same thing.
would’ve*
Thanks I wish I was as cool as you!!
…”I wish I were* ” …
Sorry! Had to do it. But to address your comment, no, I do not think it was a trick. The announcement of Melissa’s departure has come *after* the final scenes were filmed. I do not think that they planned for this at all.
I, too, thought that “the Daryl and Carol Spinoff” was a subterfuge to conceal the fact that Daryl and/or Carol would be killed off. The fact that they gave out so LITTLE information seemed to point to this, and you and I both came to similar conclusions. It seems that we were both in error.
As for the correction of your grammar… thank you for being a good sport. Besides…
There should be a comma after “thanks”
Grinning, ducking and running!
Someone has to take that moment and right now it was looking like Ezekiel if Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and Negan were all safe. Really no one else would be impactful enough. But, to be honest, even Ezekiel wouldn’t really be impactful enough. Carol would be . . . but would Carol inspire anyone with her death? It was never really her style, was it? She always moved around behind the scenes. I guess it might still be Ezekiel.
When the spin-off was announced, it seemed like poor timing. Don’t think that Reedus, cash cow and star that he is, had much to do with the Europe location except things in Georgia have changed recently (politics) and it’s lost some of the charm. His sweetheart will be filming in Europe so certainly he wouldn’t say no to being with his family, but the powers that be HAD to have HAD THIS PLAN cooking becos you don’t just throw stuff in a box and say Paris please. No doubt they have been scouting locations and making plans for housing etc. In my humble estimate, someone ran a survey, collected some data and made up their minds there’s more money to be made if Mr. Reedus character is single. Age in women actors still causes them grief. Ms. McBride is in deed why I would have followed them anywhere. Now I only have to get through 8 more shows to finally be done with the bait and switch AMC has consistently done to their loyal fans. They have proven themselves to be rare royal rats behinds with no respect for actors or fans.
Nothing has changed in Georgia Sweetheart. Keep your politics to yourself. Libbys are all talk but when push comes to shove they film in Georgia because it’s cheaper and Just like the all the celebrities that left the country every time they don’t get their way but never leave reality trumps childish whining. Or if you were referring to the Governor race where the Democrat lost fair and square and continues to deny the election results I can’t account for that. So again, keep you misguided politics to yourself. Nobody is interested in your little childish digs.
Thank you for your concise statement of an unwanted conclusion. I agree with your last sentence totally and wish all actors well. They’ll have to continue without me.
First off, I’m far more interested in the Negan/Maggie spinoff.
I think removing Carol from Daryl’s world is a positive move. Him heading off on his own is more intriguing.
First of all why are the filming in Europe? Second I would much rather see a Daryl and Negan show, with Judith, than Negan and Maggie. I don’t have any idea why they would but the two of them together. He brutally murdered her husband and no matter what else he does she would still kill him.
I agree. I want to see Daryl navigate in a more normal world (as normal as it can be) on his own given everything he’s learned, knows and is capable of. I just wish Beth was still around….she could be, right?
i wonder if this is why they came outta nowhere with the Negan/Maggie “Isle of the Dead” series news
Kind of think the whole announcing shows way ahead of time before a story is mapped out is just poor marketing. I get it, AMC wanted to see if people would bite but it kind of is annoying as a fan.
This..100%.
Carol will die in the series finale
Don’t like this at all. I wonder what the real reason is for dumping Melissa. Carol & Daryl have been equals in every way throughout the series. Each could survive on their own, but together they are a force to be reckoned with & I looked forward to the spin off. Maybe they want Daryl as an unencumbered romantic lone wolf on the road? Now, I fear Carol will be killed off.😣
It could simply be that Melissa doesn’t want to relocate to Europe. We’re still in a pandemic and Europe is in the middle of another COVID wave.
ding ding ding ding
Most likely the whole thing is a diversion to surprise us with killing her character in the finale.
The pandemic is a joke. The people currently getting sick are only those that are vaccinated and they are at risk everywhere. Please keep your politics off the thread
Norman demanded location change in march and amc just kicked Melissa out purely because of that. Melissa didn’t want to out but Norman just wanted location change in last moment
I guess for his wife? Diane Kruger is dual citizen in Germany.
Eastern Europe doesn’t seem like the safest place in the world to relocate right now. Unless you speak Russian.
Since when is Germany located in Eastern Europe? TheTwo are living in L.A. and NYC.
Melissa McBride lives in ATLANTA, GA, where the series is filmed. It may be that she doesn’t want to work in Europe. Perhaps she has an elder relative she feels she cannot leave?
You would think if they were going to kill off Carol in the last episode or close to it, they would have kept this news secret. Then the shock of them killing off someone we all thought was going to be in one of the spin-offs would have been HUGE.
The Carol is dying rumors are already on fire.
Hahaha, it doesn’t take them long to freak out. I suppose it’s possible. The finale’ has already been filmed and I would guess they’ve known this bit of news for awhile. Who knows.
I hope she lives on and shows up in another spinoff. It sounded like she’ll be ok per the spokesperson’s comment above that “… we very much hope to see Carol again in the near future”.
I now lobby for Walking Dead: Dog (featuring Daryl) where we learn that canines become immortal with regenerative properties due to long exposure to the Walker virus.
That sounds awesome! I expect them to overwhelmingly be herding dog breeds, since their superior intelligence & remarkable agility uniquely enables them to avoid walker hordes.
Uh… sorry to say, but… CATS already have it in the bag.
I mean… five walkers versus one SERIOUSLY cheesed off Moggie? Don’t laugh. Remember my words, next time you have to give Fluffy a pill!
Then it could be a spinoff calledThe Walking Dead adventures of DOG AND SKIDMARK. (Daniels cat that disappared sfter season 5 of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD
#JUSTICEFORSKIDMARK
I like it! I’d watch that show!
I’m in.
huh?
As a fan of The Walking Dead since day one, I was never one of those people who were obsessed with Daryl or Carol…. To this day his signature EMU haircut still drives me absolutely crazy… It’s not that I don’t like their characters I never saw any kind of sexual chemistry between the two of them …even when so many people shipped them….. but I’ve always seen them more as brother and sister. I was always a major Rick girl…. And I still miss him on the show. But my favorites were always Rick, Beth(Who I wanted so desperately for Daryl) Glenn, Dale Negan & Maggie. And with the spinoff with Negan and Maggie I know I’m gonna be the odd man out on this too, but I want them to get together romantically in THEIR new spinoff series ….which means that his wife would have to be gone! But I know I’m not the only one that sees on screen chemistry between Jeffrey Dean Morgan & Lauren Cohan ….. there’s just something between the two of them …of course she has to get over him killing her husband…such a minor detail 😬 AM REALLY looking forward to their spinoff show!
Not only does she have to get over him killing her husband but so does her son. Maybe he kills someone in order to protect her son in one of the last eight episodes? That might help her even more. Saving him twice? That said I don’t know if I can see them together like that. lol
That’s weak. Why even have a spin-off then? Why shouldn’t Melissa, the best actress they have, have had a say in where it was filmed? (Why would it be filmed in Europe anyway, that makes no sense, like much of the walking dead these days, how does quality go out the window with a higher budget, you’d think it’d be the opposite)
Not a big deal to me. The Walking Dead as a franchise can’t be ruined any more than it already has been. I have some hope the anthology series “Tales of the Walking Dead” will be interesting since I’ve been advocate for a Walking Dead anthology as far back as season 4. Unfortunately the producers seem to have a knack for taking a good idea and turning it into as much of a carcass as walker that’s been brained.
I feel the same. I would have been interested in an anthology series before season 3 was over with; that’s when it started getting ruined for me. I don’t trust the people in charge to do anything but medicore repeating of other shows. They’ve had a few good moments here and there that was like the first 3 seasons but it’s just been downhill and a pale shadow of the unique show that it started out as. I mostly just watch for the zombie kills and because I’ve watched from the beginning of the series. After Fear the Walking Dead ends I’ll be done with the walking dead series. I don’t plan on bothering with any of the spinoffs that will just be more of the same tropes the series used to stay away from for the first few seasons; now it’s just a clone of other boring dramas.
So, Ride With Daryl Dixon?
Shocker, AMC hates women. They have always mistreated their female stars in favor of the male stars. Melissa McBride deserved better, and this spin-off is gonna be a dud. It’s like the x-files with Mulder but no Scully, doesn’t work.
Miz Sarah thank you for your correct and true statement. Carol and Daryl were lightening in a bottle and to jettison that ends the series for me. The age prejudice is almost as stunning as the idea that a late 40s male would establish a romantic relationship with a grieving teenager and not a woman close to his own age.
This is dumb. They should just let it breathe and fill the show next year when she is available. Literally NO ONE wants this without Melissa lol
Daryl has always been the most popular character on the show.
There was a deuxmoi blind about one of the spin-offs on the verge of not even making it to filming because the two leads couldn’t stand each other anymore. Was either Carol/Daryl or Maggie/Negan so ..
What a huge miscalculation and mistake by AMC to give into Norman Reedus’ demands. Absolutely no one is interested in a Daryl only spinoff. He can barely carry an episode by himself. His character has always been at its strongest with Carol. How sick of them to do this to Melissa McBride. Over a decade of loyalty from her, giving us her all to create one of the most iconic TWD characters and this is how they treat her? Hope the Daryl spinoff completely flops, it’s what Norman deserves.
Interesting. I’ve always like him way better than Carol. Though I like her she gets on my nerves. The reason she gets on my nerves is she does too much and ends up getting kicked out.
The reason I like her, once kicked out she ends up saving them. LOL
If the spin off goes with just daryl it will flop .just like his rude employees at his resturaunt in senoia that wanted me and my wife to wait a hour to sit down after doing the 2hr walking tour and all the booths and tables were empty now thats sad i wont go back to nic and normans
I wonder sometime if there is more text marketing spin offs than actual script. I always wanted the series to channel back into itself. We all learnt the walking dead are the living not the walkers after season 3/4. Fear, beyond etc all bearing some syncing of time periods should all come into one walking dead before the core essence is overly diluted.
I disagree. Daryl is the number one fan favorite. Many enjoy his character the most. And, as far as casting and contracts etc. NR has nothing to do with MM and her decisions. So, with our without MM, NR will carry the show. I trust it will be an enjoyable show. It should be Daryl and Neegan going to Euriope. That would be super fun to watch….and, I wish they’d bring back Beth. She was one character I could have seen Daryl loving.
I’d like to know when and why this logistics change occurred.
I was super excited for this series. Now, not so much. I don’t understand how or why it would be set in Europe. I love Daryl, but this is not what i wanted to see. Not sure if i will watch or not. I really hope they rethink this before filmong begins.
Well I had quit watching the walking dead this last arc, too many characters killed off and the ones left with exception of princess are boring . Was looking forward to the Daryl and Carol show , always wanted them to get together but since she won’t be on it, won’t be watching it
I applaud Melissa for speaking up before the Daryl-Carol plans went any further. She’s a professional, something changed her mind. Sometimes it’s best to add another statement to clarify why this sudden change in plans. I’ve rewatched the earlier seasons at least half a dozen times. I’m an invested dedicated WD fan.
It doesn’t have to be sexual. This is BS! Carroll met Daryl when he’d never had love and she lost everything good! They made each other strong. She is this those AMAZING women in America or anywhere who took in kiddo who needed a mother, neighbor, Nanna, Auntie, friend. When you were scared you ran to them and it was safety, intelligence, and on your side. They adopted 1 and took a lot who never had a format for what family and love were. They were smart and because of her losing her daughter protective and kind. They are Mama bear and her cub who made her stronger as he grew as a man. Unbeatable, if you kill her it better be epic. He needs to be with someone she loves too,Still bull****.
He definitely needs someone new if y’all do this that is as scarred as he was…could be epic love story like Rick and Michonne but still would want Carrol to meet and approve.