When The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon returns for its third season, it will feel closer to another, slightly older, zombie horror franchise – one The Walking Dead has plenty of history with. Daryl Dixon season 2 ended with Norman Reedus’ titular protagonist and Melissa McBride’s Carol trudging through the Channel Tunnel on a trek from France to England in the vague hope that a route back to the United States will present itself at the other end. At least some of the action in Daryl Dixon season 3, therefore, will take place on English soil.
Naturally, the switch from France to England represents new territory for the franchise. The Walking Dead‘s zombie outbreak has remained almost exclusively a North American affair since the AMC series began in 2010, with brief excursions south of the border in Fear The Walking Dead and, of course, the French dominance of Daryl Dixon seasons 1 and 2. Never before has The Walking Dead ventured into the United Kingdom, although Daryl Dixon did reveal in season 2 that the island is faring far better than most countries post-apocalypse, courtesy of the armed forces taking swift and decisive action.
Daryl Dixon Season 3 Will Feel A Lot Like 28 Days Later
The Walking Dead Has Followed In 28 Days Later’s Footsteps A Few Times
Despite having undeniably similar starting points, The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later diverge in very different ways thereafter, particularly in regard to their respective settings. 28 Days Later has its famed London landmark scenes, followed by shots of endless English motorway, then the big mansion Jim’s group take shelter in. The Walking Dead‘s dense forests, dusty roads, and American towns are a world away, giving the two stories distinctly unique flavors.
Robert Kirkman confirms the similarity between The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later is a coincidence, and his first issue was written before seeing Danny Boyle’s movie (via EW).
That will no longer be the case when Daryl Dixon season 3 crosses into England. The emergence of those same green countryside landscapes, the abandoned motorways, and perhaps even a London landmark or two, will immediately bring Daryl Dixon closer to 28 Days Later in terms of style and visuals, reminding everyone of how similar the opening beats of both stories actually were. Sure enough, trailer footage for Daryl Dixon season 3 reaffirms the comparison by showing Daryl and Carol strolling past an iconic red London bus.
Not only does this mean the duo will travel as far as England’s capital – the same capital that provided the backdrop for 28 Days Later‘s most memorable moments – but 28 Days Later also used the imagery of an abandoned red bus to highlight the zombie apocalypse’s devastating impact. Perhaps Daryl Dixon is leaning into the connection and intentionally nodding to Danny Boyle here, or maybe both England-based zombie stories decided a red bus would be the best way to say “welcome to London.” Whatever the case, Daryl Dixon will struggle to avoid feeling like 28 Days Later in season 3.
Daryl Dixon Season 3 Will Have To Compete With Its Zombie Predecessor
28 Years Later Is Just The Beginning
The other reason comparisons between The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later have typically flown under the radar is the latter’s inactivity. The last entry in the franchise, 28 Weeks Later, released in 2007 – a full three years before The Walking Dead‘s TV adaptation premiered and became a global sensation. Since then, the movie franchise has effectively been dead, leaving The Walking Dead an open path to becoming undisputed champion of the zombie genre.
If any of 2025’s offerings is primed to do justice to the “zombies in London” concept, it’s 28 Years Later.
That is no longer the case as far as Daryl Dixon season 3 is concerned. While still too early in production for an exact release date to be set, Daryl Dixon will return in 2025, which is the same year the long-awaited 28 Years Later will land in theaters. Currently scheduled for release on June 20, there will only be a few months separating the two if Daryl Dixon keeps its traditional September premiere slot. For the first time in its history, therefore, The Walking Dead will be directly competing with the horror franchise it copied, albeit accidentally, in the very beginning.
Quite amazingly, then, two of the biggest names within the zombie realm could be doing very similar things within a very similar timeframe in 2025. The likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer could be roaming around post-apocalyptic London in 28 Years Later, then Daryl and Carol will be following in their footsteps a mere three months down the line.
Despite fitting the description of a “zombie movie,” 28 Days Later‘s virus simply infects people with rage. They aren’t reanimated corpses in the way typical zombies are.
In that scenario, there can only ever be one winner. Whereas The Walking Dead is just a tourist, distracting the Yeomen Guard and getting bridge names wrong, 28 Years Later was born in the United Kingdom, molded by it. If any of 2025’s offerings is primed to do justice to the “zombies in London” concept, it’s 28 Years Later.
It’s Probably A Good Thing Daryl Dixon Season 3 Is Moving To Spain
Daryl Would Have Had A Tough Time In England
The saving grace for Daryl Dixon season 3 is that England marks just a fleeting visit on a much bigger journey. Despite wanting to reach the United States, Daryl and Carol will, for reasons currently known, depart England and make their way south to Spain, and it is here that Daryl Dixon will be predominantly set during season 3. The spinoff will, presumably, spend just enough time in the United Kingdom to set up the season’s Spanish mission, perhaps visit Big Ben, and maybe even drop a few 28 Days Later Easter eggs before moving onto the next destination.
28 Years Later can return to its usual British stomping ground without fear of an irksome younger sibling franchise biting at its heels again.
Had Daryl Dixon season 3 moved permanently from France to England, the 28 Days Later comparison, as well as the impending release of 28 Years Later, would have become a far bigger problem. The Walking Dead would have risked coming across repetitive, derivative, and like it was foolishly trying to outdo a rival on home turf. Making matters worse for The Walking Dead, 28 Years Later is just the first part in a planned trilogy, meaning the revived movie series will be sticking around. Daryl Dixon relocating to England just as the United Kingdom’s premier zombie franchise is churning back into action would be a baffling move.
By contrast, Spain keeps all sides happy. Daryl Dixon season 3 gains a unique and novel setting that The Walking Dead has never previously explored, but simultaneously avoids treading on a rival’s toes. 28 Years Later, meanwhile, can return to its usual British stomping ground without fear of an irksome younger sibling franchise biting at its heels again. With that said, watching The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon turn its attention to the U.K., however briefly, will still provide some fascinating insight after season 2’s claim that the island survived the zombie outbreak.
