Three-and-a-half years after its announcement, with only a paltry CG teaser that didn’t even have the title of the movie in it since, we finally have actual proof that The Walking Dead’s much-anticipated return of former star Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes is something that is still happening. But now it’s no longer a movie—instead, it’s a six-episode miniseries due to air next year.
Lincoln and co-star Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne, made the announcement in their surprise appearance at the very end of The Walking Dead panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. If you weren’t at the panel, here’s some visual proof that the return of Rick is finally on the way via AMC’s official Walking Dead Twitter account:
There is a synopsis as well, but it doesn’t give any firm details, unsurprisingly:
“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?”
If you’ll recall, when we last left Rick (back in season nine), he had just been wounded and airlifted via helicopter to an unknown group. The movie will pick up after the character’s mysterious disappearance, filling in what happened to the former leader of Alexandria after he (almost-)sacrificed himself to save his people from a horde of zombies. Years later, after Michonne found a clue that Rick had survived in season 10, she went out in search for him. Guess she found him!
It’ll be joined by two other Walking Dead series in 2022—one starring Norman Reedus as fan-favorite Daryl (which was going to star Melissa McBride as Carol until she dropped out) and the other centered on Lauren Cohan’s Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan titled Isle of the Dead. Seems like it might have been easier to just film another season of The Walking Dead proper, but oh well.
[Updated to confirm the previously announced movie has been changed into a TV miniseries.]
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