Spin-Off Goals: Could ‘The Walking Dead’ season 6 spin off Norman Reedus’ Daryl, anyone else?
Season 6 of “The Walking Dead” is going to be heading to AMC on Sunday night, and in preparation of that coming up, why not go ahead and talk about spin-offs a little bit? While we’re grateful to have “Fear the Walking Dead” out there, we’ve been surprised from the very onset of it that the network opted for a prequel series set elsewhere when they could have just separated a few members of the current group, given them their own storyline on a different show, and then raise the possibility of crossovers.
With in mind, we’re here to pose the following question: Is there still hope for this happening? Specifically, could the series do something featuring Norman Reedus’ character of Daryl Dixon that could give you more insight into his character without him being relegated as much to the background? It’s definitely something worthy of discussing here in the latest edition of our Spin-Off Goals article series. (Note: this is all based on our own ideas; there’s no actual evidence that something like this is happening.)
Why Daryl? – The biggest reason why is how much he’s evolved. He was a lone wolf to someone capable of having this odd extended family. He’s a great walker-killing machine still, and more than that Reedus is someone talented enough to handle the weight of being the sole headliner of a series. There are some other characters on this show who could carry a separate spin-off, but if you were looking at ways to give this franchise more life and more ratings, telling the Daryl Dixon story without all of the cutaways to other plotlines could be an interesting move.
The idea – What if some members of the group decided that they actually wanted to stay in Alexandria and live a functional life, and Daryl realized he had a larger calling? Specifically, what if there is a mission out there similar to the one Eugene first suggested? The only reason we could see a guy like Daryl splitting off is for a very important reason, and trying to help all of humanity would be a great way to do that. Maybe you pair him with some new characters, or have him take one or two people from Alexandria along with him.
Could it actually happen? – It’s cool to think about, since we know that Reedus is certainly a big enough draw to anchor a show in its own right. However, at the same time it’d be too big of a risk at this point to move a guy so popular off of the flagship show. AMC is probably better off in terms of risk aversion looking at someone like an Abraham, a Tara, or someone else familiar to the show, but not around from the early days, as someone who would be the perfect person to give a solo show to. That way, you can try to have the best of both worlds and try your hand at a solo adventure while keeping the flagship strong.