Melissa McBride to Join 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' for Season 2

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will now be about two popular characters from The Walking Dead. While appearing at New York City Comic Con, Norman Reedus announced that Melissa McBride would be joining Season 2 of the AMC spinoff as a series regular, per Entertainment Weekly. This news comes after McBride made a vocal cameo as Carol Peletier in last week's episode. 

"I've known there was much more to be told of Carol's story as I felt her so unsettled when we last saw her, as she watched her best friend, Daryl, ride away," McBride said in a statement. "Apart or (hopefully!) together, their stories run deep, and I'm so excited to continue Carol's journey here. This team of storytellers have done amazing work to land these two established characters in an entirely new world to them, and I'm loving the discoveries!"  

Originally, Daryl Dixon was supposed to star Reedus and McBride when the series was announced back in September 2020. But in April of 2022, McBride left the project because  "relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time," according to a statement from AMC. 

When McBride spoke to Entertainment Weekly in the summer of last year, she left the door open for a return. "I feel like Carol has more story to tell," she said.  "I'll leave it at that. I think she's got some more story." In June, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan in The Walking Dead universe, shared a photo of Reddus and McBride on set while filming Daryl Dixon. 

"Well well. We're sorry Norman… fer talking oodles of s— to you when we thought melissa wasn't doing show!" Morgan wrote in the post. "Golly… this must of been in the works for ages! (Twas from start) God— it's great seeing these two together! Can't wait!"

Daryl Dixon focuses on the title character (Reedus) making his way through France. Reedus stars in the series along with McBride (Season 2), Clémence Poésy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Laika Blanc Francard, Anne Charrier, Romain Levi and Eriq Ebouaney. Season 2 of the series will be called The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol and is set to debut next year.