The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon showrunner David Zabe talks about his hopes for a Daryl and Rick reunion during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Rick and Michonne got a happy ending thanks to The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, returning to Alexandria to be reunited with Judith, R.J. and everyone else they left behind. Meanwhile, Daryl and Carol are still in the wind as of Daryl Dixon season 2, with the former in France making new friends and enemies, and the latter in Maine seeking a way to cross the Atlantic and join Daryl.

A full Walking Dead universe reunion seems a long way off, at least as things stand now, but hope remains for Daryl and Rick to reconnect, as Daryl Dixon showrunner Zabe conveyed during an SDCC panel at which Screen Rant was present. Zabe could give no confirmation of a reunion, but did say that talks are always ongoing, as he, Scott Gimple and others plan the future of the TWD franchise. Check out his remarks below:

I and other people, I think, are always considering and talking about ways to connect characters from The Walking Dead in various iterations and spinoffs. So it’s always a conversation. But we’re still figuring out [Daryl Dixon] season 3. The best I can say is really, some time in the future, I think it’s safe to say on Scott [Gimple’s] behalf that we hope that the characters will find ways to reconnect.

Time May Be Running Out For A Full Walking Dead Reunion

The Walking Dead universe will continue for the foreseeable future, with Daryl Dixon season 3 recently getting confirmation, and Dead City season 2 also in the offing. What might transpire after that is much more up in the air, though Norman Reedus recently provided a tantalizing hint when he indicated that Daryl Dixon season 4 is going to happen.

If the plan is for all these various Walking Dead universe threads to eventually be woven back together, it’s being kept very much under wraps. The likelihood, though, is that any future TWD designs are tentative at best, given the logistical issues involved with getting cast members’ schedules to align, getting productions up and running, etc., Time may be TWD’s biggest enemy in all this, as creatives begin plotting their own future courses away from the franchise.

The biggest warning that time is ticking came recently from Reedus, who said he has six or seven more years of playing Daryl (via Mr. Feelgood). That may sound like a generous window, but given how long it takes to get everything together on a production, time can get tight very quickly. It’s not known how long other cast members, like Andrew Lincoln, wish to remain part of the TWD universe. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will carry on the legacy when it returns on September 29, but it’s unknown whether Rick and Daryl will ever ride into battle again.