The Walking Dead is hitting the road with Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride), who will return in a sequel series from co-creators Scott Gimple and Angela Kang. Described as a “road show” with a different tone and feel from past seasons of The Walking Dead, the as-yet-untitled spinoff won’t focus on Daryl and Carol exclusively — other characters will be along for the ride — but the two best friends will discover a new frontier in The Walking Dead Universe when the new series revs its engine sometime in 2023.

“With ‘Daryl and Carol,’ I can’t say too much about it, but I will say it’s going to be very different from The Walking Dead, going to have a different tone. It’s going to have a different mission churning under it,” Gimple, who serves as TWD chief content officer, told The Los Angeles Times. “There will be characters all around Carol and Daryl. And, of course, the musical numbers.”

Jokes aside, the spinoff won’t be quite as dark and heavy as previous seasons of The Walking Dead.

“There’s many layers of approvals and things, but [it’s meant to be] a little lighter. Not in a way that feels frivolous, but I think like all of us are looking to have fun in that world,” said Kang, who moves over to the spinoff as showrunner. “It’s a road show — I hope I can say that — and so I think it will feel distinct. It’s definitely something that Norman and Melissa and I and Scott have all talked about, what we crave tonally.”

The current tenth season of the main show planted seeds for the spinoff as early as the Season 10 premiere, where Daryl and Carol mulled over hitting the road to New Mexico. As Season 11 introduces the Commonwealth, a sprawling civilization that has mostly resumed normal life despite the ongoing zombie apocalypse, it’s easy to see outsiders Daryl and Carol journeying somewhere new.

“I think Daryl, the lone wolf, we’ve always thought, ‘That guy just rides off into the sunset at some point.’ Carol is kind of the same person,” Kang said, adding the Commonwealth story “touches on things I think are very relevant about class and about society.”

“[Comic creator] Robert Kirkman really tapped into something that I think a lot of us are thinking about,” she continued. “Obviously we’ve had to pivot to these other episodes that are part of the sort of Season 10 continuation bloc, and then for Season 11 there’s just these stories with themes that are meaningful to all of us.”

“People’s jaws are gonna drop” over the final minutes of The Walking Dead’s tenth season, teases season finale director Greg Nicotero. The episode, pushed from its April 12 air date amid the coronavirus crisis, picks up where “The Tower” left off: with Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and other survivors trapped inside an abandoned hospital tower swarmed by the legion of zombies steered by Whisperer Beta (Ryan Hurst). To escape a certain doom, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Kelly (Angel Theory) and others must infiltrate the walker horde fearing it’s a mission not everyone will survive.

“It’s one of my favorite episodes of the season,” Nicotero told FANDOM. “What’s great about our show, and what Angela [Kang, showrunner] has done so well, is really kept the momentum of the story moving forward. Where we last left everyone was that Beta and the horde was surrounding the tower, and the finale picks up right where we left off.”

Trapped by the “giant, massive” army of “thousands of zombies surrounding where they’re safe,” our group faces their greatest challenge just as Maggie (Lauren Cohan) re-enters the story and begins a new chapter of The Walking Dead.

“There’s a lot of character storylines that are [addressed] — you get little bits of information here, here, here, and you want to end that chapter and start the next chapter in the finale,” Nicotero said. “We address lots of stuff with Daryl, lots of stuff with Negan, lots of stuff with Beta, lots of stuff with Carol.”

Nicotero added, “I think it’s already been revealed that Maggie’s return is in the finale, and it tees us up so well for Season 11 that it’s a little agonizing for me to not be able to talk about it. Because the last two minutes of the finale, people’s jaws are gonna drop.”

While explaining why AMC was forced to postpone the season finale, Nicotero promised the episode “will not disappoint” when it airs later this year.

Kang earlier revealed the episode — which also follows Eugene (Josh McDermitt), King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) and new ally Princess (Paola Lázaro) on a race against time to meet the new community represented by Eugene’s radio contact Stephanie (Margot Bingham) — will end on a cliffhanger.

“I’ll just say that there’s some big stuff and there is a cliffhanger, without getting into what exactly that is,” Kang previously told Entertainment Weekly. “But I think hopefully it will be exciting.”

As AMC turns the page to the next chapter of The Walking Dead, which is surprisingly exciting as it heads towards a six-year time jump and a Rick Grimes movie trilogy starring Andrew Lincoln, it would appear that the network is laying the foundation for the future. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride are settling in as the series leads with new deals that last for the next three years of the franchise.

These new contracts are not only lucrative deals, but also are not limited to the television show alone, which suggests that Daryl and Carol might appear in other The Walking Dead properties, possibly even films, one-offs, or other specials. Regardless, this news firmly establishes these two stars as the key fixtures for the post-Rick era of the series. In addition, Danai Gurira is also in talks for a new deal that should keep Michonne in the fold in a similar way as well.

Reedus’ new deal is reportedly worth $350,000 per episode with additional guarantees and upfront payments. Advance money may end up in the range of $50 million to $90 million. On the other hand, McBride’s deal is said to be worth around $20 million over the course of the new contract. Gurira’s own deal might take some time to come together considering her breakout status from starring in Black Panther and other higher-profile projects.

Also reported by THR is that the most recent episode of The Walking Dead, the last for Andrew Lincoln, saw a slight ratings bump of a 2.1 rating in its key demographic, along with 5.41 million viewers, that may hint at more increases to come as news spreads of the upcoming films and new direction of the television series, which is jumping ahead another six years following Rick’s departure out of the main group.

Lauren Cohan’s possibly-temporary exit will certainly factor into the story as it picks back up years later, but overall happened a bit more quietly than Lincoln’s. Her character’s future is being left wide open and it sounds like the only real limitations for having her return to play Maggie is with respect to scheduling.

Showrunner Angela Kang and AMC programming president David Madden confirmed the news that the previous episode was the last time we will see Maggie this season and offered fans some hope that this won’t be Cohan’s last time appearing on the show. Kang commented that there are certainly more ideas left for the character’s journey and a mutual interest in telling those stories, which bodes well for fans who want to see more of the actress.

We’ve been talking to Lauren and hopefully we’ll get to tell more story for her. We definitely have some things up our sleeve that we’d love to do. A lot of that is just a scheduling conversation, so hopefully that will all work out, because I think mutually we would like to continue with Maggie’s story, for sure.

Considering all of the recent developments to come from this pivotal episode of The Walking Dead, the future is certainly looking bright for a franchise that was in desperate need of some fresh air. There were many ways to approach this moment but it feels like AMC might have chosen the right one. Rick Grimes lives on and the show is gearing up to feel fresher than ever.

The Walking Dead continues Sunday nights on AMC with three more episodes before its midseason hiatus. The next episode is shaping up to look much different than the same old show from the last nine years, give or take. Will you be tuning in?

Melissa McBride continues to tease a dark fate for her character Carol in The Walking Dead Season 7.

The actress shared a cryptic message to The Walking Dead TV panel audience at New York Comic Con 2016 about Carol’s future. Here’s what McBride had to say: “Every step she’s taken up to this moment has just devastated her…What is it about this world that makes us want to survive so much? That’s a huge question.”

There comments make us nervous. McBride has consistently talked about Carol’s dark path while promoting The Walking Dead Season 7 . Carol has always pulled through the darkness and survived despite the odds stacked against her. We’ve seen Carol’s resilience in The Walking Dead Season 5 when she covered herself in walker guts and made a makeshift missile launcher to rescue Rick’s group from the Terminus cannibals.

However, Carol isn’t doing so well by the end of The Walking Dead Season 6 finale. Carol wants peace and doesn’t believe she will get that in Alexandria. She’s starting to lose herself, and it could mean the show is preparing to say goodbye to the character. In the comics, Carol goes through a similar depression after she catches Tyrese cheating on her with Michonne. Carol feels alone and starts to distance herself from her daughter Sophia. She tries latching on to Rick and Lori, but fails to convince them to have an open marriage.

Carol then ties up a walker in the prison basketball court and lets it devour her. She essentially dies from suicide by walker. If Carol is too far gone, the show could have a similar fate for the character. At this point, if Carol has to kill people again she will probably turn the gun on herself. She can’t carry any more guilt and the only person who truly sees that is Morgan . He’s tried desperately to help her want to live; if Morgan fails Carol, it’s likely he’ll spiral back into his old ways.

Do you think Carol will make in past The Walking Dead Season 7? Let us know in the comments below. The Walking Dead Season 7 premieres Oct. 23 on AMC.

The countdown for the return of “The Walking Dead” Season 7 is now starting as fans are now all excited to see who will receive Lucille’s end. As the stars are now teasing what they know will happen, Melissa McBride has another question for everyone who wants to know what will occur.

Melissa McBride’s Mother Asks If She Will Die Next

“If I could tell you, would you really want me to tell you?” Melissa McBride questioned the ones asking her who will die in “The Walking Dead” Season 7. In fact, the 51-year-old star, who plays the role of Carol, was often asked but she wasn’t given a chance to tell the truth. Even her mother wants to know what will be the future of Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) captives, as per Entertainment Weekly.

With her excitement, Melissa McBride’s mom questioned her if she is the one who will die in the first episode of “The Walking Dead” Season 7. “‘Did you die?’ I’m like, ‘Mom, I wasn’t in that scene,'” she happily shared.

‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7 Premiere Episode Will ‘Rock The Walls!’

Moreover, there are some fans that got angry for letting them hang with a major cliffhanger in the season finale of “The Walking Dead” Season 6. “It’s compelling and some people like cliffhangers, some people hate them, and that’s just part of the experience,” Melissa McBride explained. She also added that she is hoping everyone who gets mad will still watch the show as “The Walking Dead” Season 7’s premiere episode is going to “rock the walls!”

Not only that, Melissa McBride also teased that fans will surely feel that the waiting game for the coming “The Walking Dead” Season 7 is definitely worth the wait. Inquisitr also reported that the new installment is set to have additional communities, leaders and survivors. The story of the Hilltop Colony will be unfolded as Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Shiva and The Kingdom will all appear in the third episode. “The Walking Dead” Season 7 will return on Oct. 23 on AMC.