Despite The Walking Dead being one of the most popular zombie franchises of all time, the spinoffs have failed to utilize the undead to their full potential, which one actor has helped highlight. The Walking Dead season 11’s finale ended the main show, but this didn’t close the book on the franchise, which has since continued through numerous spinoffs. The series has had mixed success in the past when it comes to expanding the universe through spinoffs, but the new shows have been a breath of fresh air, as all three have received predominantly positive receptions.

Each entry has brought something new to the table, and they have proven that The Walking Dead still has some fun ideas nearly 15 years after the televised universe began. However, despite The Ones Who Live being among the best TV shows of 2024, all three spinoffs have struggled with a zombie problem that Norman Reedus briefly mentioned. The Daryl Dixon actor commented on his Walking Dead show’s future, claiming “It’s not really about zombies and who’s going to get bit this week, it’s completely different”, and while this adds to Daryl Dixon’s charm, it also highlights a major issue.

Norman Reedus Is Right – Daryl Dixon Isn’t Really About Zombies

Daryl Dixon Is Far More About People & Relationships, Rather Than Zombies

Despite introducing new variant walkers and showcasing how dangerous they are, Norman Reedus is right about Daryl Dixon not being about zombies. Instead, the show focuses far more on Daryl familiarizing himself with a new environment and making genuine connections. The protagonist had no intentions of traveling to France, only ending up there after being captured and escaping into the ocean, but it led to some of his most important relationships. Although he only agreed to help Laurent and Isabelle so that he could return home, he ended up developing an emotional attachment to them, demonstrating the show’s main theme.

These relationships are at the core of the spinoff, with season 1’s finale showing how conflicted Daryl is about going home. The show explores the protagonist’s compassion and selflessness, highlighting how much he cares about his new allies, as well as his friends back in America. Ironically, Daryl Dixon reveals the origins of various zombie variants and arguably utilizes them better than any other Walking Dead show, but they are not at the center of the plot. The zombies help add drama and raise the stakes of the action, but Daryl’s relationships and enemies are the show’s focal point.

While it is great seeing new types of walkers pose a dynamic threat to Daryl and the spinoff’s other survivors, they still play a secondary role, which has become increasingly common in The Walking Dead universe.

The Walking Dead Hasn’t Really Been About Zombies For A Long Time

Zombies Have Been A Secondary Threat For Years In The Franchise

The Walking Dead will always be heavily associated with zombies, but the franchise hasn’t centered around them in a long time. While the first few seasons of the show focused on walkers and the threats they posed, the series transitioned towards making humans the main villains after a couple of installments. Despite this, zombies remained a crucial part of creating tension and jeopardy, even when fighting other human factions, but they became incredibly easy to deal with in later years. The Whisperers helped make the undead feel like a big deal momentarily, but after their defeat, zombies essentially became obsolete.

Season 11 tried to give them some relevance by introducing variants, but this didn’t have much of an impact on the overall narrative. Unfortunately, the spinoffs have only continued this trend. Walkers and variants played a minor role throughout Dead City and Daryl Dixon, but zombies weren’t a problem in The Ones Who Live, as barely any characters had a serious run-in with them. Characters and relationships have arguably been the focal point of the franchise ever since its inception, but it is clear zombies have become less and less important, as TWD no longer puts much emphasis on them.

Why The Walking Dead Needs To Bring Zombies Back Into Focus

Walker Variants Would Make Simply Surviving In The Walking Dead Feel Difficult Once Again

Although The Walking Dead spinoffs have managed to breathe new life into the television series, zombies should still have a bigger role. Naturally, the franchise needs villains to keep it interesting, but when the main survivors aren’t in conflict, it feels far too easy for them to survive. The addition of more variants could completely change the landscape of The Walking Dead universe, as each type of zombie would have to be dealt with in a specific way. Acid zombies may need to be taken out at range, whereas fast zombies could be lured into traps, keeping these fights refreshing.

With the Commonwealth being so well protected and the Civic Republic becoming an allied community, it will be hard to make zombies powerful enough to challenge these strongholds. However, simple supply runs could become more complicated with more variants out in the wild. The Walking Dead has found a resurgence through its spinoffs and could still have some fantastic stories to tell, but it still lacks some of its original magic. Therefore, making zombies menacing once again would be a reminder of what made the early seasons so good and also force the survivors to adapt to a new challenge.