Is rick coming back to walking dead

Rick Grimes' story served as the catalyst for the first nine seasons of The Walking Dead. His evolution throughout the apocalypse will forever be remembered as a near-perfect representation of the downfall of humanity, and finding oneself after losing oneself. His legacy is now the driving force of the final season -- yet it's creating rather annoying tropes and expectations that may be out of reach.

There's no discussion about Rick's legacy without bringing up Judith, his only daughter who has now grown into a capable but still naive survivor. Judith's only memory of her father is through the words of her mother, who as everyone knows absolutely adored and respected Rick. Michonne defended Rick's decision to save Negan, even at the cost of her friendships with Maggie and Daryl. It was Rick's hope for Judith to live in a new and better world which persuaded him that sparing Negan's life was right -- a choice that is still questionable two seasons later. Judith didn't know Rick for that long, but the pressure to walk down her father's path is only turning her into an "annoying kid in the apocalypse" trope.

Judith Unfairly Compares Daryl to Rick...

Season 11, Episode 18, "A New Deal" sees the aftermath of the truce between Pamela and the survivors whom Lance has terrorized for the past few episodes. Maggie and Daryl agree to let bygones be bygones as long as Pamela locks Lance up for good. But the past still stings far too much. Daryl decides to take Judith and RJ back to Alexandria after seeing that the Commonwealth has created bigger issues that will take more than just a truce to resolve. Judith -- who highly resembles her older brother Carl in her stubbornness -- isn't having any of it. She claims Daryl is just running away again (by her standards, Michonne technically "ran away" from her own kids), to which Daryl snaps at her to stop her insistent backtalk.

No one can blame Judith for wanting to stay at the Commonwealth. She never experienced life before the apocalypse and the Commonwealth closely resembled a pre-apocalyptic life. But claiming that Daryl is running away from the Commonwealth shows that she is still a kid who doesn't understand the gravity of the situations Daryl has been through time and again. With Daryl acting as her caretaker now, she's putting the weight of Rick's legacy on his shoulders and expects him to act like Rick. But as much as Daryl mourns the loss of Rick, he will never be like him -- a realization that isn't terrible, because if everyone in The Walking Dead was another version of Rick Grimes, the series would've gone stale years ago.

...But Everyone Is Unfairly Compared to Rick

As Daryl reminds her later on, his childhood was rough. Daryl was a survivor long before the apocalypse and was never a leader like Rick. Daryl is also much more empathetic than Rick was, and takes the well-being of others into consideration long before he even thinks about rebuilding the world into something better. Yet the constant reminder that Rick was The Walking Dead's main character before Daryl weakens his character. Daryl cannot make a single decision without being compared to Rick, either by Judith or by viewers. He's always expected to do the right thing and be the sacrificial lamb because that's what Rick was when he "died."

The reminder that Daryl isn't Rick only stirs the pot more when Rick is expected to make one final appearance in The Walking Dead before it kicks the bucket. Andrew Lincoln is already confirmed to return as Rick in a new spinoff series, so the man who started it all could end it all. Even a rumored post-credit scene (an unnecessary addition to tease what will probably be nothing) has sparked fan theories that Rick will reunite with the crew one more time. These expectations are crushing the Commonwealth storyline. The final episodes are already suffering from bad pacing due to poor planning, and viewers now want Rick to reunite with the people trying to uphold his image -- an unattainable request that is putting too much pressure on a final season that is already biting off more than it can chew.

New episodes of The Walking Dead air Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on AMC and stream a week early on AMC+.

After nearly four years years of The Walking Dead fans suffering from a Rick Grimes drought, with Andrew Lincoln having exited the flagship series back in mid-Season 9, AMC and franchise overlord Scott Gimple have finally given everyone a confirmed reason to celebrate. Lincoln is confirmed to be reuniting with Danai Gurira's also-missed badass Michonne for a brand new project that won't be a series of features as was originally planned. Rather, they're getting their own TV spinoff!

Following the San Diego Comic-Con panels for Tales of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira joined Scott Gimple on stage to announce an as-yet-untitled limited series for AMC Studios that will continue the epic relationship and journey for Rick and Michonne. The six-episode series will debut in 2023, with Gimple serving as showrunner, and all three taking on executive producer duties.

Here's how Andrew Lincoln responded in a statement:

This has been the most extraordinary journey playing Rick Grimes for the best part of a decade. 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.

They really seem to be playing up the love story elements here, which makes a lot of sense, seeing as how they don't have their children around to mess up their romantic moments. I kid, of course, since returning to their loved ones will almost definitely have to play into the story. Not to mention explaining how they reunited in the first place. It's going to be a real bummer if it takes three eps to bring them back together. But for now, we stay optimistic!

And here's what Danai Gurira had to say about reprising Michonne for the first time following her exit in Season 10.

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.

It’s unclear if this project has any bearing on rumors that Gurira was getting her own spinoff series at Disney+ based on her Black Panther character. But we know it won’t get in the way of Lincoln’s upcoming small screen return for an episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix anthology Cabinet of Curiosities, since that series will be debuting later this year.

This news comes as quite a shock to fans that have been waiting for updates on what was being planned as a theatrical trilogy completely focusing on Rick Grimes. Updates for that project were few and far between, as all things COVID were as big a detriment to progress as the creative side of things. But while Danai Gurira's involvement with the feature plan was only assumed, now we know that Michonne will be just as much a part of Rick's return as the former lawman himself. 

2023 feels like it's way too far away, but fans can look forward to seeing not only another season of Fear the Walking Dead and the debut season of Isle of the Dead, but now we know we'll also be watching Rick and Michonne wrapping up their stories for good, and on AMC where it should be. While waiting for that glorious day to come, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are heading to primetime and beyond.

Nick is a Cajun Country native, and is often asked why he doesn't sound like that's the case. His love for his wife and daughters is almost equaled by his love of gasp-for-breath laughter and gasp-for-breath horror. A lifetime spent in the vicinity of a television screen led to his current dream job, as well as his knowledge of too many TV themes and ad jingles.