The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixonhas finally washed up on AMC and is alreadymaking waves(in a positive way) with fans. During his time on the original series,The Walking Dead,Norman Reedus’ motorcycle-riding character became a fan-favorite with one of the most impressive arcs. Now that thefirst episodeof his off-shoot has aired, audiences are coming to better understand what they can expect from the Reedus-led spin-off, although there’s still plenty of mystery left. In a recent interview with Collider’sChristina Radish, executive producerDan Percivalopened up about how the team behindThe Walking Dead: Daryl Dixonmanaged to create an entirely new story while still honoring the past.
“We put a great deal of thought into that,” Percival said of the work that was poured into ensuring that the show “feels different” but at the same time keeps up a level of familiarity. “AMCandDavid Zabel, the showrunner, wanted a director and cinematographer who hadn’t shotThe Walking Deadand who brought a different aesthetic to it, but who would also respect the original American show,” he explained. Of his own experience, Percival added, “I’ve worked both in Europe and America, so it was a nice hybrid for me to be able to let my more European filmmaking sensibilities free to play with a genre that is so distinctly American. It was a lot of fun to do that, and to find new visual language and new storytelling language to expand the scope of the series.”
When welast saw DarylinThe Walking Deadseries finale, he was riding off into the apocalyptic sunset on a quest to findRick Grimes(Andrew Lincoln). So, when the network announced that the character would be receiving his own sequel series, many fans were stumped when they discovered that he would be in another country on the other side of the world. “That’s the biggest, boldest move, for sure,” Percival said, “It’s like, ‘Let’swash Daryl Dixon up on the beachand see how he survives.’ You may as well have dropped him on Mars.” Still, fans are already responding positively to the show, meaning that the production team nailed their blend of nostalgia with a new story.
Ghosts from Daryl Dixon’s Past Colliding with the Present
Outside of Reedus’ reprisal of Daryl Dixon, the fresh off-shoot features a cast of new-to-the-franchise faces. Included in the lineup areClémence Poésy(theHarry Potterfranchise),Adam Nagaitis(Chernobyl),Louis Puech Scigliuzzi,Romain Levi,Laika Blanc Francard,Eriq Ebouaney, andAnne Charrier. But, as of right now, we can anticipate at least one familiar face from Daryl’s old life in America to appear somewhere along the way. While the series was initially set to be aDaryl and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) spin-off, scheduling conflictsblew those dreams to pieces. However, anupdatefrom fellowThe Walking Deadalum,Jeffrey Dean Morgan, teased fans that they would see the dynamic duo together again even if it’s just a cameo capacity for Carol.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixonairs weekly on AMC and AMC+, with the second episode set to arrive on Sunday, September 17.
