‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Final Season Teaser Reveals Jimmy Smits’ Mysterious New Survivor

Daryl and Carol's European journey is approaching its end, but The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is bringing a familiar face along for the final chapter.

AMC+ released the first teaser for the fourth and final season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on Tuesday, offering an early look at Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride's return as Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier. The footage also reveals the arrival of Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jimmy Smits, who is joining the series in a major new role.

The final season is set to premiere in 2027.

Who Is Jimmy Smits Playing in ‘Daryl Dixon’?

Smits will play Captain Alejandro Perkins, a former U.S. Navy officer and medical doctor who has managed to find his own unique way of surviving and apparently thriving, during the zombie apocalypse.

The teaser doesn't reveal much about exactly how Perkins fits into Daryl and Carol's story, leaving plenty of mystery surrounding the new character. Smits' arrival nevertheless adds another major television veteran to the Walking Dead universe as the spinoff prepares to bring its story to a close.

Smits has a long television résumé that includes NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Sons of Anarchy and Dexter, among many other roles. Now he'll get to see how his survival skills hold up against walkers.

Daryl and Carol Are Still Trying to Get Home

The final season finds Daryl and Carol continuing their journey across Spain as their hopes of eventually making it home remain uncertain. According to AMC+, the two will cross the country's ravaged badlands while holding onto both hope and each other as questions about their future continue to grow.

That journey is teased in the brief new footage, which shows a battered Daryl alongside flashes of walkers and the dangerous landscape ahead. Carol is also back at his side, continuing the partnership that has stretched all the way back to the early years of The Walking Dead.

The final season will once again feature Reedus as Daryl and McBride as Carol, alongside Romain Levi, Eduardo Noriega, Óscar Jaenada, Candela Saitta and Hugo Arbués.

The End of ‘Daryl Dixon’ — But Maybe Not Daryl?

AMC previously announced that Season 4 would be the final season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. The eight-episode season filmed in and around Spain, including locations in Madrid, Bilbao, Galicia, Andalucía, Segovia and Toledo.

Ending the spinoff doesn't necessarily mean Daryl Dixon is disappearing from The Walking Dead universe, however. When the final-season renewal was originally announced, Reedus notably said that while the series was coming to an end, Daryl's journey was “far from over.”

That certainly leaves the door open for Daryl and potentially Carol to appear elsewhere in the expanding franchise. For now, though, the focus is on finishing the story that began when Daryl unexpectedly washed ashore in France and eventually reunited with Carol.

With Jimmy Smits joining the ride as the mysterious Captain Perkins, there is at least one major new character left for Daryl and Carol to meet before their European adventure reaches its conclusion.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon returns for its fourth and final season in 2027 on AMC and AMC+.