According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Disney was developing a live-action Robin Hood and that Han was returning for Fast & Furious 9 – AMC is developing a Walking Dead spinoff movie centered around one of their most beloved leads, the crossbow-wielding Daryl Dixon.
As far as the chronology of the Walking Dead-verse is concerned, Daryl’s standalone film will presumably take place after either season 11 or 12, and will see him searching for former series protagonist Rick Grimes while throwing in some flashbacks with his volatile brother Merle, who died in season 3 episode 15, “This Sorrowful Life.”
Based on Robert Kirman’s acclaimed comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead tells the all-too-familiar story of a civilized world thrown back into savagery when a virus turns the better part of the population into infectious, people-eating zombies. But where most zombie stories had previously relied on cheap thrills and graphic gore, Kirkman and season 1 showrunner Frank Darabont reinvigorated the genre by shifting the focus away from the mindless monsters and onto the living, whose true colors were put to the test in this most unprecedented of circumstances.
While Daryl’s movie debut isn’t officially greenlit just yet, it’s indeed being developed and there’s plenty of reason to assume it’s going to happen. After all, as one of the most beloved shows AMC has ever produced, as well as one of the most popular television programs ever, it was only a matter of time before the creative team would start thinking about how to bring their story into other formats.
On top of that, AMC is no stranger to making movie adaptations of their most esteemed content. Last year, they produced El Camino to tie up the loose ends of their flagship program, Breaking Bad. Whether Daryl’s Walking Dead flick will also end up being distributed on Netflix remains to be seen, but fingers crossed it’ll be just as great as Jesse Pinkman’s.
