Everyone's favorite crossbow killer is back in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, the latest spinoff series in AMC's long-running Walking Dead franchise. This time around, Norman Reedus' titular survivor of the zombie apocalypse takes center stage: After washing ashore in France, Daryl Dixon—looking truly biblical with a cloak and staff—is charged with ferrying a young French boy who may or may not be the Chosen One to safety. Sound familiar? The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is the latest in a long line of movies and TV shows about gruff, damaged men tasked with caring for a special, magical, humanity's-last-best-hope child. Yes, it's pretty much The Last of Us. And, yes, it rules nonetheless.
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We seriously cannot get enough of this subgenre, dubbed the lone wolf and cub story. Pedro Pascal is, of course, the father of the reluctant dad resurgence, which hit the big leagues with 2019's The Mandalorian but really began with 2017's Logan and, for our purposes, extends back to 1969's True Grit. Since then, we've seen a slew of great, often heartbreaking movies and TV shows about grizzled men tapping into their paternal instincts. These guys are hardened, lonely non-believers or outlaws traversing desolate landscapes. (It's no wonder the trope pops up so often in dystopian sci-fi and Westerns.) By becoming a surrogate father to some usually annoying but always endearing young cargo, the reluctant dad finds redemption.
We've rounded up 10 of the most touching, devastating father-son and father-daughter duos across film and TV, with an emphasis on more recent pairings. There are apocalyptic thrillers, dramas about a stranger in a strange land and a couple offbeat comedies, in no particular order. (But we're totally starting with Pedro Pascal's greatest hits.) However you package him, the reluctant dad is bound to make your heart burst. Forget the hard-nosed antihero. It's time to get daddin'.
The Last of Us
Liane Hentscher/HBO
Fans of The Last of Us, the video game, will tell you that any worthwhile list of reluctant dads hauling chosen ones cross-country begins and ends with Joel and Ellie. And, honestly? They wouldn't be wrong. He's a damaged smuggler, she's the cure to the mushroom zombie apocalypse. And their bond has some world-altering consequences. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey both scored Emmy nominations for their portrayals in the 2023 HBO adaptation, with Season 2 on the way.
Station Eleven
Ian Watson/HBO Max
If you loved The Last of Us, 2021's Emmy-nominated HBO miniseries Station Eleven should be next-up on your watchlist. Based on the gonzo 2014 novel of the same name, Station Eleven is a heady, decades-spanning saga of those who survive a flu apocalypse. Be forewarned: The central story of Jeevan and Kirsten, two strangers thrust together on the night of the outbreak, will rip your heart out.
The Mandalorian
Lucasfilm
Who can forget the first time Baby Yoda (it's Grogu, but we'll never learn) stuck his tiny green finger out of that floating little orb to touch lone gunslinger Mando? The Mandalorian breathed new life into the whole surrogate father subgenre. (Star Wars would go on to replicate the formula in 2022's Obi-Wan Kenobi.) It also made Pedro Pascal synonymous with daddy, zaddy and whatever other iterations the kids have come up with by now. Din and Grogu were actually inspired by characters in a 1970s samurai flick, placed at the bottom of this list.
Prospect
BRON Studios
Only the real ones know about Pedro Pascal's other reluctant dad performance: 2018's Prospect, aka gold rush in space. This little-seen sci-fi flick is awesome, with a compelling original story and inventive design. Pascal plays a stilted, morally ambiguous prospector looking to strike it rich on some alien moon. He forms an unlikely alliance with a teenage girl (Sophie Thatcher of Yellowjackets fame), and the two race to make it off-world alive.
Justified
FX
Justified Season 2 aired in 2011, but it remains one of the best seasons of TV, like, ever. You've got Margo Martindale's Emmy-winning portrayal of ruthless Harlan County drug lord Mags Bennett. And Timothy Olyphant's Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens enters his reluctant dad era with the orphaned Loretta McCready, who's not your typical damsel in distress.
True Grit
Camerique/Getty Images
John Wayne won his only Oscar for his portrayal of the drunkenly U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, who's enlisted to help a teenage girl (Kim Darby) avenge her father's death. Glen Campbell also stars as plucky Texas Ranger La Boeuf. Seen the original True Grit a million times? Jeff Bridges' Oscar-nominated 2010 remake is worth the watch, and now streaming on Paramount+.
65
Sony Pictures
This 2023 sci-fi flick was unfairly maligned. It's a good-looking dinosaur movie with great action beats and, with only two characters, it's a true lone wolf and cub adventure. Adam Driver stars as an astronaut who's crash-landed on a prehistoric planet, and rising star Ariana Greenblatt (Barbie) plays his orphaned young companion. With a tidy hour-and-a-half runtime, 65 won't swallow your entire Friday night. (Bless.)
Logan
Ben Rothstein/Marvel
Logan is the closest thing to an adult comic book movie we've gotten. The 2017 X-Men spinoff was supposed to be Hugh Jackman's last hoorah as Wolverine — that is, until the new Deadpool was announced. Directed by Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny helmer James Mangold, the Oscar-nominated film follows a world-weary Logan as he fights to protect a mutant child from sinister scientists in a dystopian future. And, yeah, the ending will probably crush you. (You sensing a pattern here?)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Madman Films
Sam Neill takes all that reluctant dad stuff he did in Jurassic Park and perfects it in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Taika Waititi's landmark 2016 survival comedy about a troubled kid and his gruff foster dad running from the authorities in the New Zealand bush. If you love awkward comedy, angry Sam Neill or Kiwi accents, this one's for you.
Lone Wolf and Cub
Toho Company
The trope of the lone wolf and cub takes its name from this classic Japanese manga series about a shogun assassin who wanders the countryside on a revenge quest, pushing his motherless son along with him in a pram. Not surprisingly, Lone Wolf and Cub served at the inspiration for The Mandalorian. The story was adapted into six samurai films, all of which are now streaming on Max. Start with 1972's Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance.
