Daryl Dixon was afraid to take the jump from The Walking Dead to his own spin-off.

Norman Reedus is an iconic actor who is known for portraying the role of Daryl Dixon in the iconic AMC series The Walking Dead. With Dixon being the protagonist of the series for the last three seasons, the world was delighted when a spin-off titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon was announced.

It was planned that Reedus and McBride’s spin-off would run simultaneously alongside the main series of The Walking Dead. However, when the series announced the season finale, Normal Reedus revealed that he felt scared to take the jump!

Norman Reedus in a still from The Walking Dead

Norman Reedus And The Walking Dead Spin-off

With The Walking Dead premiering in 2010, the world was immediately hooked on the series. Starring a plethora of characters, the series ran for 11 seasons and ended back in 2022 with the Season 11 series finale.

Norman Reedus in a still from Blade II (2002)

Following the closure of the series, the talks of a spin-off starring Norman Reedus’ character Daryl Dixon spread on the internet like wildfire. In an interview with EW Live, Reedus talked about the original plan for the spin-off titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and how he was scared to take the jump.

“I didn’t know the flagship show would end. The whole thing was we would take off and we’d come back and check in and we would take off. So I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

He further continued,

“And to be honest, I was hoping that would never happen because, you know, that’s the mothership. I’m scared to leave the mothership. That’s scary new ground. I mean, I’m excited for the spin-off and I’m excited for the type of show it will be, but I didn’t see that coming that. That kind of came out of nowhere.”

However, the decision of the spin-off worked out in the end since Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) had talked earlier in season 10 that they would hop on a bike and leave. Well, that’s where the spin-off started!

Norman Reedus Felt Proud of The Walking Dead Spin-off

Norman Reedus in a still from The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (2023-)

Starring Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride in the lead roles, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon continued the story quite smoothly. When their on-screen characters talked about hopping on a bike to New Mexico, that is where the first episode of the spin-off picked up from!

“When I read that in that first episode of that season, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s from the thing we talked about!’ We didn’t speak of that area of the world in particular, but I was like, ‘So, this is where that’s coming from.’ I think it sort of set the tone for it, for sure.”

The first season of the iconic spin-off premiered on 10 September 2023. Receiving average reviews, the spin-off was renewed for a second season with an unconfirmed release date of sometime in 2024.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is available to stream on AMC+ Apple TV in the U.S.