The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon spinoff will feature variant walkers

In 2023 The Walking Dead universe will introduce two new spinoff series. The Walking Dead: Dead City will premiere in June, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon in the fall. Norman Reedus will reprise his role as the crossbow-shooting Daryl, who has been a staple in The Walking Dead series since season 1.

Daryl will be transported to France in the next chapter of his story, where Reedus has said fans shouldn’t expect just a continuation of the story but more of a reboot. He will arrive on the shores of France with no memory of how or why he is there but determined to make his way back home. He will encounter new people who make this task difficult.

One of these new characters is Isabelle, played by Clémence Poésy, who is part of a religious group that Daryl will be introduced to. Adam Nagaitis plays another, Quinn, who is a displaced Brit who is a black marketer and underground club owner. Other announced characters include Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent, Anne Charrier as Genet, Eriq Ebanouey as Falou, Laïka Blanc-Francard as Sylvie, and Romain Levi as Codron.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon spinoff – variant walkers

The final season of The Walking Dead re-introduced a variant walker with more abilities, like climbing and being able to pick up things. This was a thrown back to the first season’s walkers. These walkers may be seen in Dead City or the Rick & Michonne spinoff.

But Daryl’s spinoff will likely see a different variant, one seen in an after-credits scene of The Walking Dead: World Beyond spinoff. Even if you haven’t watched World Beyond, you have likely seen the scene I am referring to, if not, you can see it below.

This scene had nothing to do with the World Beyond series, but like the Rick & Michonne coda scene featured at the end of The Walking Dead’s series finale episode, it was a glimpse into another story set in the same world.

The MUST READ article below is a deep dive look into this scene.

The scene above featured a familiar face, Dr. Jenner (Noah Emmerich) from season 1 episodes “Wildfire” and “T-19.” He worked at the CDC and was the one to inform Rick (Andrew Lincoln) that “everyone is infected.”  These videos of Jenner were recorded early in the outbreak before things went dark. He explained to Rick and his group that the French were the last holdouts, who thought they were close to a cure.

Evidently, the experiments the French were conducting created a variant instead of a cure. This means Daryl will encounter this type of walker. It is difficult to say precisely what characteristics these variants possess, but they will likely differ from the slow-moving, brain-dead ones in The Walking Dead. 

Many viewers believe that this scene proves the outbreak was started in France, but I think it means the variant was created there, and the outbreak was started elsewhere. Perhaps more light will be shed on this topic in the Daryl Dixon spinoff series. Seeing a new type of undead in this spinoff will make for an exciting story.

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