Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan says fellow zombie fighter/survivor Melissa McBride will be appearing in “The Walking Dead” Carol/Daryl spin-off, now titled “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.” This comes as a shock to fans, since about a year ago, AMC said McBride could not do the show for logistical reasons.
“Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe,” AMC said in a statement. “Unfortunately, she is no longer able to participate in the previously announced spin-off focused on the Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier characters, which will be set and filmed in Europe this summer and premiere next year. Relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time. We know fans will be disappointed by this news, but The Walking Dead Universe continues to grow and expand in interesting ways and we very much hope to see Carol again in the near future.”
This previous announcement upset a lot of people since Carol (McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) are both fan favorites in “The Walking Dead” universe. Which understandably makes “TWD: Daryl Dixon” probably the most anticipated spin-offs. But some viewers took things way too far and began to harass Reedus, blaming him for McBride’s departure. At the time, Morgan stepped in to defend Reedus.
And now it looks like Morgan is getting the last laugh. By tweeting a picture of McBride and Reedus together, dressed up like their characters. The image is accompanied by the, rightfully, snarky comment:
While no spokesperson for AMC or “The Walking Dead” has commented, we think Morgan is a pretty solid source on this one. Morgan even continued to engage with comments going after fans that wrongfully went after Reedus. When one person pointed out that the fans going after him would probably credit themselves for McBride coming back to the show, Morgan responded with “Nope. Opposite. Toxic is toxic. Nobody wants to hear it. Read it. It’s just the love between Norm and Melissa is stronger than the bs from outside.”
While we here at Nerdbot obviously have our various fandoms. We have to agree that toxicity like this is seriously hurting the community. As much as we may love “The Walking Dead,” at the end of the day it’s a series of comic books/ TV shows. These are real people and they should not be harassed. Let alone harassed over something that they didn’t even do.
“TWD: Daryl Dixon” is expecting to release sometime later this year. Check out the first teaser below:
