Is The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon gay?
Throughout the course of The Walking Dead‘s four seasons, Daryl Dixon has evolved from a quiet crossbow hunter on the fringe of the group into one of the most beloved, valuable members. Now, creator Robert Kirkman hints we could see Norman Reedus’ character reveal a new — pretty unexpected — dimension.
Speaking with Comicbook.com about the possibility that Daryl is gay, Kirkman said, “All I can say is that it’s been discussed.”
Although many hints about the futures of other characters on the show are within The Walking Dead graphic novels, Daryl’s character was especially created for the AMC show. However, in the letter column of graphic novel #130, a reader suggested the television writers may pull inspiration from the graphic novel character Jesus. Similar to Daryl, Jesus is a rugged survivalist who becomes Rick Grimes’ right-hand man.
Kirkman previously said of the character, “In my opinion there should be more awesome gay people in fiction because there are plenty of awesome gay people in real life. I want Jesus to be a character where his sexuality is as unimportant as Rick or other heterosexual characters.”
Based on his new interview, that seems to be the approach Kirkman hopes the show takes with Daryl. He explained, “We have very specific ideas about Daryl’s sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof), and if there’s ever a quiet period in the show where he’s not consistently distracted by cross bowing… We’ll tackle it in the show.”
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Oct. 12.
