Melissa McBride Poised to Appear in Daryl Dixon Spinoff After All; TWD Vet Slams ‘Toxic’ Fans for Needless Backlash

Everybody who balked when it was announced that Melissa McBride would not be a part of the Walking Dead spinoff that was to continue the adventures of besties Carol Peletier and Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon must be feeling pretty silly right about now — and nobody is loving that more than Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

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On June 22, the actor who crossed over Negan from the mothership series to Dead City tweeted a new BTS photo of franchise OGs McBride and Reedus, snapped by a France-based Instagram account. But it was Morgan’s remarks that really spoke volumes about whether McBride would be appearing on Daryl Dixon after all.

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“Well, well,” he said. “We’re sorry, Norman… for talking oodles of s—t to you when we thought Melissa wasn’t doing [the] show! Golly… this must [have] been in the works for ages!

“Twas from the start,” he made clear. “Great seeing these two together! Can’t wait.”

You’ll recall that back in April of 2022, when McBride was said to have departed the offshoot, fans took out their anger on Reedus. In response, Morgan tweeted at the time, “Some of you have gone way too far. Attacking Norm for crap he has nothing to do with? Melissa made a call that was hers alone. She wants/needs a break. Respect that. Factors involved that are nobody’s business. Norm, who’s given more than anyone to you all. Just sh—ty.”

When a follower of Morgan’s suggested on Thursday that the haters might think that their vitriol is what spurred McBride’s involvement, he replied, “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.”

TVLine has reached out to AMC regarding McBride’s status with the fourth Walking Dead spinoff, but the network has maintained that it has no comment.

During Sunday’s premiere of Morgan and Lauren Cohan’s Dead City, (recapped here) Dead-heads got their first glimpse of Daryl Dixon, in which our hero “washes ashore in France and struggles to piece together how he got there and why,” per the official description. “The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan.”

Are you glad that it looks like McBride and Reedus will be reunited after all? Sound off in the comments.

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