In the middle of the ninth season of The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln’s character, Rick Grimes, was caught in an explosion of his own making after he blew up a bridge to save Alexandria from a horde of zombies. Rick Grimes did not die, however. He sustained heavy injuries, but a helicopter with a mysterious three-ringed symbol picked him up and, along with Jadis, they were airlifted to an unknown whereabouts. After the episode’s completion, we learned that Rick Grimes would be getting his own trilogy of stand-alone movies.
Here’s what we have learned about those movies since then. On Fear the Walking Dead, which is on a timeline several years behind The Walking Dead but on roughly the same timeline as Rick’s airlift, a helicopter bearing the same symbol as the helicopter that picked up Rick Grimes made an appearance. We have subsequently learned that the three-ring symbol refers to an entity that goes by the initials CRM. We also know from Fear the Walking Dead that the helicopter people are associated with a community building toward a better future, present consequences be damned.
Meanwhile, that three-ring symbol also appears on the clothing of characters on The Walking Dead spin-off, The World Beyond. On that show, Julia Ormond plays the apparent leader of the outfit that once visited Fear the Walking Dead. The executioners wear the same gear worn by those CRM visitors on Fear, and Ormond seems like the kind of leader who kills people, ahem, “for the greater good.”
We have also learned that “CRM” refers to the three communities that make up the organization. “C” we can assume refers to The Commonwealth, the next story arc in The Walking Dead. The “M” probably refers to the community in The World Beyond, which is probably called Monument, if only because that’s what the working title of the series was. The R refers to an unknown third community or the community being established on Fear the Walking Dead.
Meanwhile, over on The Walking Dead, in this 10th season, there are two potential tentacles into the Rick Grimes films. First, Eugene has reached out to someone from another community on the radio, and that community is likely The Commonwealth. Second, Michonne is on a boat to a Naval base with a new character named Virgil. That naval base may connect her either with The Commonwealth or another of the CRM communities, which could put her in search of Rick Grimes, leading to her exit from the series.
So, given all of that? When can we expect to see the first Rick Grimes’ movie, which we know will eventually land in theaters? That’s a good question, and I have no idea. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan, wants to know, too (he’d also like to make his own Negan prequel):
Well yeah. Not sure what the deal is with those films though. Waiting like you to hear about ole Ricky Grimes movie. I have my own thing for POSSIBLE films. I’m still holding out for negan story… based on @RobertKirkman graphic novel. Id LOVE to film that. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
— Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) November 30, 2019
Meanwhile, Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays Jadis and will be in the movie, seems to be waiting to find out, as well. But “they are still happening.”
Meanwhile, I have no idea when they’re going to be able to fit the movies into the timeline, with The Walking Dead returning in February, which will lead straight into The World Beyond which will presumably lead straight into Fear the Walking Dead, which will lead right back to The Walking Dead. Maybe during the Christmas 2020 hiatus?
