Mad Daryl. It might not have the same ring as the eponymous road warrior. However, it can be guaranteed that Norman Reedus, who reprises his mainstay role as Daryl Dixon, will hit the ground running with his latest post-pandemic project. Greg Nicotero, a veteran makeup designer for pretty much anything to feature a zombie, believes Daryl and Max share a great deal in common.
In a conversation with SFX (from a story by GamesRadar), Nicotero said he was speaking with writer David Zabel about the series, and “kept referring to it very much like The Road Warrior, where you come upon Mad Max in the desert and he connects with this group of people. I said, ‘This feels like our version of Mad Max.’”
The series, however, takes place in the wastelands of a post-apocalyptic France, swapping out the woodlands of Georgia for a refreshing, European take on the long-running horror drama, and Nicotero had nothing but praise for the spin-off.
“We’re all grateful that it’s set there,” Nicotero added. “I can’t imagine us having shot anywhere else. It’s a road show when Daryl shows up in Marseille, and then has his trek through post-apocalyptic France.”
Nicotero recently shed light on a new variant of walker in Paris that “change all the rules” and have “mutated to a point where if they touch or bite you or their blood gets on you, it burns you significantly.”
“Dixon takes us back to the beginning of what the DNA of The Walking Dead started as, which is a man on a mission,” Nicotero added.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon debuts on September 10, 2023, on AMC and AMC+. The series further stars Melissa McBride, Clémence Poésy, Adam Nagaitis, Romain Levi, Laika Blanc Francard, Anne Charrier, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, and Eriq Ebouaney.
