The Walking Dead TV series,
based on Robert Kirkman’s
comic book series of the same
name, has been running since October 2010. Over the last ten years,
viewers who have kept up with the show have grown attached to certain
characters. Unsurprisingly, main character Rick Grimes (played by
Andrew Lincoln) became a fan favorite. When the character was written
out of the main show back in season nine, fans wondered whether we
may ever see the character in anything on the screen again. Those who
are not caught up with what happened to Rick may want to stop here.
At
last year’s Comic-Con, a theatrical
film series
from AMC and Universal was
announced for The Walking Dead
franchise. This is another huge step, after the IP has made its way
from comics to television, and then to novels and video games. The
franchise continues to inhabit new media. Interestingly, the film
would be centered on Rick Grimes. In terms of the setting, it would
take place after Rick Grimes’ helicopter trip seen at the end of
his last episode on the main series. The decision for Rick’s fate
and how it was executed in that episode was a rollercoaster for sure.
Some love it, some hate it, and some are mixed about certain aspects
of it. (I fall into that last category.) Looking back, Rick’s exit
retroactively feels like a glorified advertisement for the upcoming
film. All that being said, it is better to have closure for the
character in some form rather than just keep people forever guessing.
What
we know so far is that the script for the first film is finished, and
production is set to begin once the COVID-19 shutdown is over. During
this year’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home panel titled “Robert Kirkman
at Home,” franchise creator Kirkman confirmed that he will be
heavily involved with the film, just as he has been heavily involved
with the TV series. He said that he and his creative team, as well as
Andrew Lincoln, are doing their best to tell a story that really does
justice to the character, and that anything less than that would be
unacceptable:
“I am very
involved in those. I'm talking to Andrew Lincoln quite frequently,
working with David Alpert and Scott Gimple, working with Universal,
AMC getting that in shape. It's very important to us that these
movies are spectacular. I think that to have Andrew Lincoln reprising
his role as Rick Grimes is a very special thing and if we were to do
these movies in any way that was in any way lackluster I think would
be a disservice to him, a disservice to the character of Rick Grimes
and a disservice to the fans. So I've been very hands on with shaping
that story and making sure that things are on the up and up. We're
all working very hard to bring you the best possible movie.”
Speaking
as someone who has read the entire comic series from beginning to
end, it is difficult for me to predict the trajectory in which the Rick
Grimes character may be taken. Some changes in the TV show have been
mere character swaps for certain types of fates, but the current path
for TV Rick Grimes is uncharted territory. It can go just about
anywhere. While it is difficult for me to imagine that the onscreen
The Walking Dead could
live up to the amazing ending of the comic series given certain
changes that have taken place, I am still very curious to see where
Rick Grimes, and the characters on the main show, for that matter,
end up. The endgame will not be the same, but I, just like many other
loyal viewers, am invested.
Source(s): Screen Rant
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