We're coming up on the milestone 15th anniversary of the Walking Dead franchise and it's still going strong. With two spinoffs still on the air, a critically-acclaimed miniseries wrapping up the main character's long-standing story last year, and the promise of more shows in the future, there is still so much to be excited for as fans of the beloved saga.
There is no doubt that the TWD Universe fans will be celebrating the major milestone anniversary of The Walking Dead's debut on AMC in 2010, and one of the ways that they will be able to do that is by watching the most recent season of the show that is arguably the best spinoff series. Not only does it tease where two of the most beloved characters of the TWD Universe will go to next, it also introduces the brand new villains of the iconic franchise.
We are, of course, talking about The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3, which has just commenced on AMC and AMC+. And now, a new brand new trailer showcases those aforementioned new villains in action.
New trailer for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3's next episode confirms new villains
There is no longer any mystery about the new villains of the Walking Dead franchise. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 is underway and we have officially embarked on a new adventure with beloved franchise veterans Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier. That new adventure has, so far, taken the pair to London and now Spain as they continue their long-standing journey back home - a journey that started in France. And now, they may have to face some new obstacles if they hope to make that goal of getting back to Alexandria and the Commonwealth a reality.
The trailer for the third episode of the season has been released by AMC and AMC+, and it appears to confirm just who the main villains of the season are. Before we get into it, watch it below to see for yourself:
The trailer previews what's coming next in the upcoming episode of Daryl Dixon. As Carol continues to recover from her injuries and Daryl begins to make arrangements for their return home (obtaining help to fix Julian's boat), some darkness begins to brew in Solaz del Mar. Or maybe it was there all along.
The trailer features the future King of Spain, Guillermo Torres, who is also the leader of the El Alcazar group that rules the roost. However, he's not quite as pleasant to Solaz del Mar's mayor Fede as he was in the previous episode, asking him "What kind of town is Solaz del Mar?" Yep, he's clearly bitter about the fact that Carol questioned their alliance with the town simply because she thought La Ofrenda was an outdated custom.
Up to this point, it wasn't clear who the primary villain of the season would be. Of course, there is the group of eerie bandits who stole Daryl and Carol's supplies in the season premiere, but it feels like there will be more to the season than just that particular group. There were also some other candidates in the second episode, with Fede and Guillermo seeming like possibilities.
Fede is an unusual character in that he seems like he could be sinister if the show wanted him to be but, for the moment he isn't. He's conflicted at some and is clearly capable of some questionable actions for he also seems desperate for the alliance with El Alcazar to work. So it's going to be interesting to see how he takes Torres' unkind words.
Speaking of Torres, it was clear that he might be a problem. If La Ofrenda takes young women away from their families, it can't be good, and it's clear that the man responsible for all of that has some questionable values. Not only was that clear from fans' first impressions of him, but the pleasure he took from torturing the father of one of the girls they had taken was nothing short of evil.
The Walking Dead has a long line of classic villains to live up to
We mentioned earlier that we're coming up on The Walking Dead's 15th anniversary and it goes without saying that the entire franchise has produced some memorable villains over that decade and a half. Not just on the original show either, as we have had classic baddies on Fear The Walking Dead, World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and of course The Ones Who Live. Not all of them have been great, but all of them have - at one point in time or another - been forces to be reckoned with within the TWD Universe.
It was the original show that produced the most memorable villains. We can't forget The Governor who, in many ways, became the saga's first fully-fleshed-out human villain as his corrupt ways made it clear that he wouldn't be a nice guy. Whenever Rick and gang defeated him, there was the long build to Negan, who went on to become one of the most pivotal characters in the entire franchise. From his dark days of using Lucille to harm good people to his long-running redemption arc that led him to being one of the heroes of Dead City, the villain (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is among the most recignizable characters in the franchise. And he even took out one of the original show's subsequent villains in Alpha, the leader of The Whisperers.
Fear had some memorable villains in Troy and Jeremiah Otto, while Dead City's are a bit more theatrical. The Ones Who Live is probably the most consistent of the new spinoffs in terms of villainy as it followed through on its promise to complete the long-running franchise arc of solving the mystery of the Civic Republic Military.
Daryl Dixon has had an interesting villain in Madame Genet, which definitely helped expand the world when it came to threats in the TWD Universe. Although the character's mid-season death in season 2 was a little surprising, she has entered into the higher end of the list of TWD villains.
Now, we look to see where El Alcazar will make its presence felt among the long-running franchise's endless supply of villains. Another larger-than-life community with a corrupt leader at the helm is certainly a tall task for Daryl and Carol to take on, but this destructive duo has brought down evil sanctuaries and villainous forces before. They can definitely do it all again if they need to.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 airs on AMC and streams on AMC+ on Sundays.