It is no secret that Andrew Lincoln — the lead on The Walking Dead for the last eight seasons — will exit the series in the front half of the upcoming make-or-break ninth season. From what we understand, he’ll also be leaving the series before he has the opportunity to meet the next big villain on the show, Alpha, who will be played by Samantha Morton. (Lincoln found out about her casting during San Diego Comic Con, presumably well after he’d already filmed his final episode on the series.)
There remains a lot of speculation, however, about how Rick will exit the show. Will he sacrifice himself? Will he be killed by Maggie? Negan? Will he get bit by a zombie? Or will his character leave Alexandria and relocate? Showrunner Angela Kang told Entertainment Weekly earlier this week that she “really wanted to be respectful of that character and send him off in a great way.” Is the best way to be respectful to Lincoln to kill him off in spectacular fashion? Or is it to allow him to leave Alexandria, head held high, knowing that he helped rebuild the community after the All-Out War?
Andrew Lincoln himself certainly has a preference, as he told the press after Comic-Con. Lincoln would much rather remain upright:
“Lennie James is a perfect example of leaving without dying and doing rather well on it, so there is that way,” Lincoln said, referencing his former co-star Lennie James who head off to Fear the Walking Dead as Morgan Jones. “And then there is obviously the other way, which we’ve done quite a lot… Obviously, I’m not going to tell you which way [Rick leaves] I mean, I’d prefer the Lennie James of it all. But I think what we have in store this season is truly remarkable, and I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done.”
Hmmm. I’d “prefer” to remain alive, “but” what the show has in store is truly remarkable sounds to me like Lincoln may not get his choice. Or perhaps the “but” is innocuous, and maybe he will remain alive.
Here’s a thought, however: We know that Lincoln is leaving the series because he’s ready to spend more time with his family back in England. We also know that Scott Gimple is planning to announce another The Walking Dead spin-off. If Rick is still alive after he leaves, could he theoretically help launch a second spin-off, one that is filmed closer to home for Lincoln? One where the English countryside stands in for, say, Ohio?
After all, I still can’t get over the fact that Andrew Lincoln said earlier this year of Morgan Jones, who left for Fear the Walking Dead, that “there is a sort of sense, certainly, with Lennie, that it’s until we meet again. It’s always been that way with Rick and Morgan. I don’t know, there’s something in the air, that I feel that it’s not quite the end yet for Rick and Morgan.”
It’s a far-fetched theory, perhaps, but a Rick-led spin-off set in another location is not completely out of the question, is it?
Source: ComicBook.com
