Location is important to The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
The first season of The Walking Dead spinoff starring the titular Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) moved the zombie action from a post-apocalyptic United States to an equally post-apocalyptic France. The second season, which premieres Sept. 29 on AMC, will bring beloved franchise figure Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) over to L’hexagone to see how the French are faring. Now the show is set to expand its European ambitions even further. And that might have some fascinating implications for the franchise’s most iconic character: Rick Grimes.
During The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon panel at 2024 San Diego Comic Con, AMC announced that the show had been renewed for a third season that will take place in Spain. Production will begin next month and be based in Madrid, with location shooting planned in the Galicia, Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia regions.
“France made Daryl and Carol’s story into an epic poem with what we found there. What’s to come in Spain may even surpass it — and we’re so damn happy to bring the audience more of the Terrific Two alongside new compelling characters, in a yet unseen, beautiful, horrific corner of their broken world,” Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer for The Walking Dead Universe, said in a statement.
The announcement is notable not only for how it shakes up the geography of The Walking Dead universe but for also its potential to incorporate a major bit of lore from The Walking Dead comics. That’s because, in The Walking Dead canon, Rick Grimes’ brother Jeffrey was in Barcelona, Spain when the zombie pandemic began.
Jeffrey’s story is told in a 32-page side issue of The Walking Dead called The Walking Dead: The Alien. The issue was penned by legendary comic writer Brian K. Vaughan and released on April 20, 2016. It’s notable for being the first issue of the series not written by original author Robert Kirkman and the first issue to take place outside of the United States.
Jeffrey’s brief arc in “The Alien” doesn’t have too much significance for the larger Walking Dead canon. He suffers a zombie bite near story’s end, making it likely that he’s the first Grimes to die in the series chronologically. But The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is under no obligation to maintain Jeff’s fate from the comics. In fact, Rick’s ending in the show is already markedly different from his comic conclusion.
Moving Daryl Dixon‘s setting to Spain for season 3 opens up a fascinating possibility of The Walking Dead getting a Grimes back in its story. After all, if Daryl can find evidence of his own family in France, why can’t he come across Rick’s in Spain?
