The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes and Michonne Return Confirmed, But Not in a Movie
We finally know what happened to The Walking Dead's Rick Grimes movies...
Well, we finally know what happened to that trilogy of Rick Grimes movies that AMC announced back in 2019 and hoped to release in theaters starting in 2020? They aren’t happening, confirmed the zombie-obsessed cable network at this year’s The Walking Dead panel at San Diego Comic-Con. But it’s not all bad news.
The reason the movies have been canned is because Andrew Lincoln is instead returning in his own six-episode miniseries, along with Danai Gurira, to wrap up Rick and Michonne’s story after their departures from the main show. The duo made a surprise appearance at the panel with Walking Dead creative chief Scott Gimple to make the announcement.
The show, which doesn’t have a title yet, will premiere sometime in 2023, joining other The Walking Dead spinoff series, such as Isle of the Dead, which will star Jeffrey Dean Moran and Lauren Cohan as Negan and Maggie respectively, and an untitled Daryl Dixon sequel series set to star Norman Reedus. The latter series takes place in Europe.
Here’s the synopsis from AMC: “This series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?”
Longtime Walking Dead fans might remember that Michonne thought Rick was killed in an explosion in season 9 of the flagship series, only to learn that he was still out there somewhere in season 10. Where has Rick been? Well, in the final minutes of Lincoln’s last episode, we learned that he’d survived the blast, thrown into a river, washing up miles away. That’s where Anne/Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) found him and rescued him by striking a deal with a CRM helicopter to fly him to a hospital. He’s not been seen since.
“This has been the most extraordinary journey playing Rick Grimes for the best part of a decade,” said Lincoln in a press release announcing the new miniseries. “The friendships I’ve made along the way are deep and lasting, so it’s fitting that I finally get to complete the story with Danai and Scott and the rest of the TWD family. I’m so excited to be returning to the screen as Rick, reuniting with Danai as Michonne, and bringing the fans an epic love story to add to the Walking Dead Universe.”
Says Gurira, “Michonne and this TWD family has meant so much to me, and to continue the journey of these beloved characters, alongside Scott and Andy, both creatively and in front of the camera, and bringing The Walking Dead fans something truly special is just glorious. I can’t wait to pick up the katana again.”
So, if you’ve been wondering whether The Walking Dead finale coming up this fall was an actual ending, well, it’s far from it. It’s just the end of TWDU phase one.
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John Saavedra is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den of Geek. He lives in New York City with his two cats.