Norman Reedus promises “Daryl Dixon” the best “Walking Dead” hour ever

Reunited and it feels so good. With apologies to Peaches & Herb, that’s the feeling Walking dead Fans will feel when season 2 of Daryl Dixon Premieres September 29th on AMC. That’s because Norman Reedus will be joined by franchise colleague Melissa McBride in a season announced as “The Book of Carol.”

McBride’s Carol makes her first appearance in the spin-off series in the final scene of season one, when she sets out to discover the fate of her old friend – a quest that becomes the central theme of season two. Meanwhile, Reedus’ Daryl continues his quest overseas in France to help potential messiah Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi).

It wasn’t supposed to be that long before the dynamic duo joined forces for the spin-off project. It was originally announced in 2020 that Reedus and McBride would appear together in the series from the start, but McBride later dropped out for personal reasons. As she says today: “Norman was in France filming the first part and I had things to do.”

But plans for a Daryl and Carol series go back even further. “We’ve been talking about doing a spin-off together for a long time, before anyone came to us,” Reedus reveals. And what was their original concept? “The idea was that she and I go on a road trip to find out who’s left in the world,” he explains. “One of the ideas was that everyone dies and maybe we get on the motorcycle and there’s no way to get back there because everyone’s dead. So it was kind of a travel show where we find out who’s left in the world.”

Those plans changed when AMC pitched its own idea. “When they came to us and said, ‘We want you to do a spin-off,’ they hadn’t announced that the main series was ending, so we figured we’d go on an adventure and come back to the group,” says Reedus. “So it all happened kind of backwards.”

Eventually, Daryl ended up in France, and a season later, Carol follows him to the land of berets and baguettes. And even though McBride took a break and was now shooting in a new country with a new crew, it was relatively easy to slip back into her role seamlessly. “It was a little bit strange, but then again, not because both of our characters are very adaptable,” she says. “It was a bit like riding a bike. We knew where she was, knew what she wanted, what she was trying to do. So that part was easy.”

However, it won’t necessarily be the same Carol we know. “She’s determined,” says McBride. “But it’s a different kind of fearlessness that’s driven by her determination to find her friend – and also the state of mind that we find Carol in, which is yet to be revealed.”

McBride declines to elaborate on this mysterious state of mind, but Reedus offers further hints about what to expect: “There’s a lot of action in Season 2. There’s a lot of business and a lot of very emotional moments. There’s a lot of hero stuff with Melissa, too. It’s beautiful.”

The show will continue to differentiate itself from the original series with unique locations, music and tonal changes. “Melissa and I and everyone else wanted to do something new,” Reedus says. “This was a real opportunity to take all of these elements that make this show and these characters so compelling and make something completely new and fresh out of it. And that’s what we did.”

The actor also has a bold statement that will surely raise eyebrows among long-time viewers. “I think the season two finale is the finest hour of Go Dead everything I have ever experienced,” he promises. “And I have been here since day 3, so it really is my favorite hour Walking dead anything.”

Now that Carol is back, it could become a fan favorite too.

A version of this story appears in EW’s free Comic-Con 2024 Preview print issue, which will be distributed throughout the convention in San Diego.