Daryl Dixon, a hardened survivor of the apocalypse, travels with a child across a post-pandemic landscape, fighting threats of the infected and human variety. The child is considered an invaluable source to the future humanity, and Daryl is entrusted with delivering them to a mysterious location to aid in this task.
If this sounds familiar, it is remarkably akin to The Last Of Us, as Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed story bears an uncanny, some would say, glaring resemblance to The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Are these two shows really one and the same?
On paper, it would seem so, and the similarities haven’t gone unnoticed online. However, Greg Nicotero, a mainstay makeup master within The Walking Dead universe, has dismissed these theories. “I remember watching the first episode of The Last of Us and going, ‘Ummm… guys?'” Nicotero revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Nicotero explained the cast and crew were “already deep into production” on the Daryl Dixon spin-off as The Last Of Us aired. Nicotero, who directed thirty-seven episodes of the original parent series, said he had “enjoyed The Last of Us tremendously.”
Having recently described Daryl as Mad Max, Nicotero called the spin-off “a continuation” of his story from The Walking Dead. “He’s willing to deliver this kid, but that’s not his sole purpose. His purpose is he has people at home he has to get back to. He needs to get back to Judith, and Carol, and the people at the Commonwealth.”
“He kind of got hoodwinked into this detour to France. I think the idea that he connects with this kid feels a little like The Last of Us, but once you get into the journey, it doesn’t feel quite as similar to me. They’re different enough that you can enjoy both,” Nicotero added.
