'The Walking Dead' showrunner says they've been thinking about a Carol and Daryl spinoff for years, describes it as 'a road show'
- AMC announced an upcoming "TWD" spinoff centered around fan favorites Daryl and Carol for 2023.
- "The Walking Dead" showrunner Angela Kang, who will oversee the spinoff, told Insider they've been throwing around the idea of this spinoff for years.
- Kang joked that the show shares similarities with Norman Reedus' reality show on the network, "Ride With Norman Reedus."
AMC officially announced back in September a "Walking Dead" spinoff centered around Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus), but showrunner Angela Kang tells Insider it's something they've been considering for a long time.
"The idea of the Carol/Daryl spinoff had been kind of percolating for a number of years," said Kang, who will serve as showrunner on the new series after "TWD" ends its 11-season run in late 2022.
"TWD" universe chief content officer Scott Gimple recently told Insider the yet-untitled Carol/Daryl series will take on a different tone and they've already started to plant some seeds about the spinoff in the main show.
On the season 10 finale, Daryl tells Carol that New Mexico, a place she suggested the two run off to earlier in the season, is still out there. In response, Carol said, "Maybe someday."
Is that a hint at what to expect in the future spinoff — Carol and Daryl hitting the road?
"In the show, we started to just lightly lay in this idea that with these two, they have itchy feet. They're both lone wolves. They like to wander," Kang said of the two, referencing how they never like to stay in one place for too long.
On season 10, we learned Carol had started sailing a lot to help her get over the death of her adopted son, Henry. After Rick disappeared on season nine, Daryl separated himself from the communities and started living by himself in the woods while continuing to search for his beloved friend.
"I think those were all things that we started to lay in a little bit at a time in the show, this idea that they're curious about what else is out there," Kang said. "That was definitely stuff that we started to kind of lay in [the show] just in case this spinoff came to fruition, which, obviously now it's been officially green-lit to series. Without getting too direct about what they'll be doing, we've been saying it's a road show."
"Who knows where that might take them at the end of the day," Kang added.
That show premise sounds familiar.
When we joked that the series sounds like "Ride With Daryl + Carol," a wink to Reedus' AMC reality series, "Ride With Norman Reedus," Kang laughed, saying, "I guess so. Right?"
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