Daryl Dixon faces new Walking Dead zombies.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Summary A new zombie variant appears in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, leaving many questions unanswered about these formidable "Burners." For most of The Walking Dead's timeline, zombies have been slow to move and easy to predict, but the franchise is gradually ripping up its undead rule book.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond's series finale introduced "variant cohorts" - zombies that were faster, stronger, and more intelligent. The Walking Dead season 11's ending then followed-up by showing zombies that could climb ladders, grab knives, and use rocks as weapons. These variant zombies finally explained in canon why some undead in The Walking Dead season 1 were faster or cleverer than others. Strangely, The Walking Dead: Dead City ignored variants entirely, but Daryl Dixon wastes no time pushing the zombie envelope. Before the opening credits have even rolled, Norman Reedus' titular hero stumbles across zombies that burn his skin with a single touch. Their veins pulse grotesquely, and their blood smokes like acid when it hits the ground. Although such zombies have never appeared in The Walking Dead media previously, Clémence Poésy's Isabelle names them as "Burners." This revelation opens a whole raft of zombie mysteries for The Walking Dead, but some answers can already be inferred.Burner Zombies Have Acidic Skin & Blood The Burners shown in Daryl Dixon episode 1 do not appear to possess the typical variant powers of intelligence, speed, or strength shown previously. Instead, their trademark is acidic blood and skin - hence the name. From the coursing CGI veins in the Burner's head and the fizzle of chemical smoke that emerges from the entrails Daryl's weapon drips on the ground, a Burner's blood appears to be the source of their power. Since rotting zombie flesh is so thin, the Burners' acidic blood likely penetrates the flesh and affects their skin, which would explain why Daryl gets badly burned when one of these variants grabs his arm. Whatever a Burner's blood contains that makes them so toxic is seeping through to the outside of the corpse. Precisely why Burner zombies have pulsating veins currently remains a mystery in The Walking Dead. The effect may be nothing more than an aesthetic choice to visually differentiate Burners from regular zombies, or this might be connected to the reason zombies become Burners in the first place. How Burner Zombies Are Created In The Walking Dead While Daryl Dixon episode 1 does not explicitly reveal how Burners are created, the episode does drop clues that invite several intriguing possibilities. Firstly, the only Burners Daryl encounters in episode 1 are within some kind of food processing plant. Given that this facility likely contains chemicals, it seems plausible that local zombies may have been affected by the noxious environment. Perhaps normal zombies trapped inside the factory inhaled fumes or came into contact with substances that gave their insides corrosive properties. Such exposure would kill a living person, but zombies don't have to concern themselves with such trivialities. Elsewhere, Daryl Dixon implies Burners could be manmade. The spinoff's opening credits include a textbook with an annotated diagram of a zombie. Translated from French to English, the annotations include phrases such as "control the dead" and "point of entry." Stranger still, the symbol in the textbook matches the symbol Daryl Dixon's villains have on their vehicles. Then, in episode 1's final scene, Genet's doctor colleague refers to "test subjects." Furthermore, Daryl Dixon trailer footage revealed a masked zombie with pulsating veins very similar to the Burners being injected with some unknown substance. These clues add up to suggest Burners could be the result of a zombie experiment - a theory supported by The Walking Dead: World Beyond's series finale, in which a mysterious French character claimed the scientists responsible for the outbreak of "made it worse" in a transparent allusion to variants. A final hint that Burners are a biological creation, rather than the result of a chemical accident or natural evolution, comes from Isabelle. The nun speaks as if Burners - or Brûlant, as she calls them - are common in France, making it unlikely they are exclusive to the building Daryl ventured into. Are There Other Variants In France? Walking Dead Says Yes Another telling line of dialogue from Daryl Dixon episode 1 all but confirms Burners are not the only variants in town. Isabelle, still very much in exposition mode, informs Daryl that Burners are "just one kind" of zombie. The nun's warning acts as a crystal-clear message that while Burners may fall under The Walking Dead's variant umbrella, their acidic powers are just one strain out of many, which would explain why variants spotted previously in the franchise demonstrated different abilities. Reading between Isabelle's lines, Burners can perhaps now be officially added to The Walking Dead's growing list of unique zombie types. There are climbers, as seen in The Walking Dead season 11, the runners from The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and now the Burners from Daryl Dixon. Isabelle's warning also opens the door for an array of differing variant types to appear in future The Walking Dead projects, putting no limit on the unique properties undead can develop as the franchise unfolds. Why Burner Zombies Aren't In The Main Walking Dead TV Show One of the foremost questions that arises as a result of Daryl Dixon's Burners is why these corrosive corpses never appeared throughout 11 entire seasons of The Walking Dead, nor any of the franchise's US-based spinoffs. The presence of variants in the United States has been confirmed, so Burners should, in theory, be among them. The answer to this question will inextricably be tied to the secret behind how variants developed in the first place but, once again, Daryl Dixon offers enough information to make informed guesses about why Burners have been absent from The Walking Dead until now. If Burners are a product of the factory Daryl found them lurking in during Daryl Dixon episode 1, then the reason they haven't been sighted on American shores is obvious. In the more likely event that variants are manmade, The Walking Dead has already answered the question. World Beyond's canon-shaking post-credits scene confirmed the Walking Dead virus was made in France, then heavily implied variants were the result of subsequent experiments by the scientists responsible. As such, variants would naturally be more common in France, where they originated, than other areas of the world. One or two might have slipped through the net, or perhaps been shipped to the US intentionally, which would account for the few variants seen in The Walking Dead's main show, but France appears rife with them. Isabelle's "just one kind" line and blasé attitude toward Daryl encountering a Burner further support the idea that variants are crawling all around France, but only a small handful have ventured across the Atlantic. In all likelihood, Burners - and potentially many other as-yet-unseen French variants - simply haven't made that journey yet. How Burner Zombies Completely Change The Walking Dead The impact of Burners upon The Walking Dead will be seismic. Since the franchise began, survivors have become accustomed to stabbing zombies and getting covered in their blood, or being grappled by undead and fighting their way out. Both are impossible with Burners. Daryl not only has to dispatch these fiery biters without getting a drop of gunk on him, but he must avoid their lava-like touch at all costs. Had Daryl not been within the vicinity of a convent packed with helpful nuns and medical supplies - i.e. anywhere else in the world - he would have lost his arm, or worse, as the result of a single Burner touch. With Burners, skin-to-skin contact is just as fatal as a bite. After 13 years of zombie apocalypse, culling undead has almost become a routine chore in The Walking Dead, but Burners flip the script, restoring zombies from a low-level background threat to deadly monsters that must be feared. Burners also make several go-to tricks of The Walking Dead's survivors impossible. Rick Grimes' zombie guts technique cannot be used if said guts are hotter than a recently-microwaved pastry. Likewise, the Whisperers' tactic of using zombie skins as camouflage no longer works, since the skin itself is now lethal. By debuting Burners, Daryl Dixon has changed The Walking Dead's status quo permanently.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Ever-Expanding ‘The Walking Dead’ Universe: A Beginner's Guide to Every Spin-Off ProjectThe more walkers the merrier!
Read more »
'Daryl Dixon' is a different flavor from 'Walking Dead,' serving up a cinematic trip through FranceThe spinoff, which stars Norman Reedus and was shot in France, had different visual ambitions from 'The Walking Dead.' Vive le différence!
Read more »
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon S01E01 Preview: Is Daryl The Messenger?It looks like Daryl's arrival was expected in the following sneak preview for AMC's Norman Reedus-starring The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
Read more »
‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Episode 1 Recap And Review: Dead In The WaterAMC has released three (three!) shows set in The Walking Dead universe this year despite the main show ending just last November.
Read more »
Predicting The Future? Walking Dead Superpower Twist Changes The Entire FranchiseDaryl Dixon's big Walking Dead twist is wild.
Read more »