The Walking Dead Season 7 production is currently underway, with many spoiler-y images of Daryl Dixon leaking online. The images show Daryl wearing what appear to be some kind of scrubs with a giant letter A on them, at the filming location for the Saviors’ homebase, The Sanctuary.
[Warning: The Walking Dead comic book spoilers ahead]
Right now, most of the news about Daryl is purely speculation, but it appears actors Norman Reedus and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) may be spending some time together. Meanwhile, Carl hasn’t been spotted in The Sanctuary at all, which is interesting considering the comic book storyline between Rick’s son and Negan.
In the comics, Carl is angry Negan killed Glenn in front of his friends and family. He takes it upon himself to slip into the back of one of the Saviors’ caravans with a gun and open fire once they arrive to Sanctuary. Negan is oddly impressed by Carl’s actions and has a long conversation with him. Negan shows him Sanctuary, his wives and gives Carl a sense of confidence when it comes to his horrific scars from losing an eye. Negan even makes Carl take off his bandages and tells him he shouldn’t hide who he is behind them.
Negan and Carl’s dynamic is really weird in the beginning. We won’t give too much away, but Carl opens up to Negan in ways he can’t with his father. Rick is aware of Carl’s conversations with Negan, and it hurts him to know he can’t give his son what Negan can.
This brings us to Daryl. There’s a possibility it’ll be Daryl who tries to retaliate against Negan instead of Carl. Negan might take in Daryl because he respects what he tried to do for Rick’s people. Negan respects strength, even if it’s from someone threatening his life. This is why he might choose to keep Daryl around and manipulate him, just like he did with Carl in the comics. Daryl, like Carl in the comics, is someone who doesn’t know how they fit into Alexandria. Rick knows this, but doesn’t know what to do to correct it.
The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple recently told ComicBook.com Negan will have a strange relationship with someone, but won’t confirm which character he chooses to manipulate.
"Whether it's with Carl or not, I cannot say," Gimple told ComicBook.com. "I absolutely want to explore Negan having that strange respect for someone which I think was the hallmark of that relationship and we'll tell versions of that story."
Do you think Daryl will get Carl’s comic book storyline or does Negan have other plans for him in The Walking Dead Season 7? Let us know in the comments section below.
