The Walking Dead Star Finally Returns To The Franchise

By Douglas Helm | Updated

Melissa McBride as Carol in The Walking Dead

Before reading on, know that there are spoilers ahead for the upcoming season finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. For everyone who doesn’t mind having things spoiled, prepare to celebrate because Melissa McBride will be joining the spin-off in the second season and reprising her role as Carol.

While fans were undoubtedly disappointed that scheduling conflicts led to McBride not being in the first season, fans can expect plenty of Carol in Season 2. The news was announced during this week’s New York Comic Con.

Carol and Daryl will finally reunite for Season 2 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

The season finale of Daryl Dixon recently premiered ahead of its October 15 release at The Walking Dead panel at New York Comic Con, and Carol actually makes an appearance in the coda of the episode, titled “Coming Home.” This will set up her co-starring role for Season 2, which is officially titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol. With a title like that, it seems like the season will be heavily focused on Carol.

The Walking Dead

Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon and Melissa McBride’s Carol have always been fan-favorite characters in The Walking Dead, and their friendship is often cited as one of the strongest relationships in the series. In the season finale of the flagship show, they went their separate ways, but now it seems like they will finally be reunited. Daryl Dixon was initially billed as a show that would star both Daryl and Carol, but that ended up falling through.

AMC announced the show in 2020 as an untiled The Walking Dead spin-off with Daryl and Carol as the lead characters, with Scott M. Gimple developing the show and Angela Kang as showrunner. However, Daryl Dixon is both set and filmed in Europe, and Melissa McBride was unable to relocate to film the series at the time.

To fans’ disappointment, this meant that the first season would not have Carol, but hope remained that she would be involved later on.

Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon and Melissa McBride’s Carol have always been fan-favorite characters in The Walking Dead

Fortunately, everything worked out, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol will be coming to our screens in 2024 with Melissa McBride fully on board. The second season is due to resume filming in France on October 20, with AMC Studios getting an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA to continue filming while the actors’ strike is ongoing.

Along with McBride and Reedus, returning cast members for the second season of Daryl Dixon will include Clemence Poesy as Isabelle, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent, Laika Blanc Francard as Sylvie, Anne Charrier as Madame Genet, Romain Levi as Codron, and Eriq Ebouaney as Fallou.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol will be coming to our screens in 2024 with Melissa McBride fully on board.

Along with co-starring together, Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus will be on as executive producers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol. David Zabel is on as executive producer and showrunner, and other executive producers on the series include Scott M. Gimple, Greg Nicotero, Angela Kang, Brian Bockrath, Daniel Percival, Jason Richman, and Steve Squillante.

Make sure to check out the upcoming season finale of Daryl Dixon when it comes to AMC on October 15, and look out for the official release date of Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol in 2024.