Summary
- The Walking Dead spinoff featuring Rick Grimes, titled The Ones Who Live, was originally planned as a movie but has now been turned into a miniseries.
- The spinoff will explore the reunion of Rick and Michonne and their battle with the CRM, as hinted in the series finale of The Walking Dead.
- The show is set to premiere in 2024 and will be a six-part limited series, promising an epic love story with danger and enemies beyond the walkers.
The Rick Grimes The Walking Dead spinoff, titled The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, is starting to take shape with some exciting news trickling in. Rick Grimes’ spinoff was originally going to be a The Walking Dead movie. Following Andrew Lincoln’s Walking Dead exit in season 9, it was announced the actor would return for a Rick Grimes movie, possibly several, alongside Michonne. However, The Walking Dead movie was scrapped in favor of a spinoff miniseries. The franchise has already expanded with several The Walking Dead spinoffs. All have crossover appeal, and the franchise has big plans for the coming years, so the decision to make a The Walking Dead Rick and Michonne series made sense.
While Michonne and the other residents of Alexandria always hoped that Rick Grimes survived the bridge explosion in The Walking Dead season 9, Jadis was the only one who knew he was still alive, as he was last seen being taken away by a mysterious helicopter that she had called for. During The Walking Dead series finale, Michonne is seen out on her own still in search of Rick while Rick also appears in the final episode being prompted to surrender by a CRM helicopter over a loudspeaker. This set up The Walking Dead movie-turned-series, which will see Rick and Michonne reunite, likely in a battle with the CRM.
The Latest Rick And Michonne Spinoff News: Full Title Reveal & Teaser At SDCC 2023
The latest news from the Rick and Michonne spinoff comes from San Diego Comic-Con, where the spinoff was part of The Walking Dead franchise presentation. While much was revealed about the various projects within the TWD franchise at SDCC 2023, some of the most exciting news comes from the Rick and Michonne spinoff. The first teaser for the Rick and Michonne spinoff has being revealed along with the show’s official title, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
The footage is brief but does a good job getting the excitement for the new series building. The SDCC Rick Grimes spinoff trailer focuses on Michonne, and her explaining through narration that she discovered that Rick was alive. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live teaser sets up an epic yet bloody love story that will hopefully reunite Rick and Michonne. The new title reinforces the themes of the show, as it invokes the kinds of dangers these two have lived through and likely what they are willing to face in order to be together again.
The Walking Dead Rick Grimes Spinoff: Release Date
The Walking Dead Rick and Michonne spinoff does not yet have a release date, but AMC promises that it will air sometime in 2024 with the show’s first teaser confirming as much. Producer Scott Gimple publicly said that the writing team took their time on the show because they want to do Rick Grimes justice. Writing the series will have naturally become more difficult since Rick’s absence because characters who could be integral to the plot had continued storylines in other shows, like Jadis in The Walking Dead: World Beyond. It seems as though another spinoff, The Walking Dead: Dead City, will beat the Rick Grime spinoff to the small screen though neither has a confirmed release date yet.
The production did finally wrap up in May 2023, so it looks like The Walking Dead Rick Grimes spinoff release date may be coming up quickly. The Walking Dead: Dead City premiered in June 2023 with Maggie and Negan in New York City. Fear the Walking Dead will finish its run in late 2023. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is confirmed to be the next TWD spinoff premiering, so it’s likely that The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live release date could arrive early in 2024.
The Walking Dead Rick Grimes Spinoff: Cast
When it was announced as The Walking Dead movie, Andrew Lincoln was revealed to be back as Rick Grimes after leaving the original show shortly before. Now that it is confirmed as a 6-episode show, the Rick Grimes spinoff has expanded to include Danai Gurira’s Michonne. She was last seen in The Walking Dead series finale promising to search for her lost partner.
The Walking Dead movie-turned-series with Rick and Michonne continues to move along with some new casting news. Lesley-Ann Brandt has joined the Walking Dead spinoff. Interestingly, though her casting didn’t reveal any details about her character, her name is revealed to be Pearl Thorne. This is the first bit of casting news to come out of the show other than Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira returning as Rick and Michonne. It will be interesting to see if Brandt will be playing an ally or enemy to the two protagonists.
Given that The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is being planned as a six-part limited series, it would make sense that Rick reunites with his old family and friends by its end, if not sooner. One character who seems to be set up to appear in the Rick and Michonne spinoff is Morgan. The character was introduced in the first episode of The Walking Dead where he meets Rick. Morgan recently left Fear of the Walking Dead in hopes of finding Rick. Daryl (Normal Reedus) will also lead his own spinoff series, but as he also set out in The Walking Dead series finale to find Rick, it wouldn’t be surprising if he succeeded.
The Walking Dead Rick Grimes Spinoff: Story
While The Walking Dead movie was initially conceived as a story about Rick, the new spinoff series has been described as an epic love story between Rick and Michonne. The synopsis promises a major reunion between the two while they once again find themselves surrounded by danger and enemies beyond the ever-present walkers. Teases of the CRM fighting a war against the dead which drags Rick and Michonne into it make it clear who the villains of the story will be.
The Walking Dead finale also seems to reveal that he has already escaped CRM only to be recaptured. This confirms that whatever new life he was brought to when he was flown away has not been to his liking. The helicopter pilot who speaks to Rick over the loudspeaker in Rick’s final scene of The Walking Dead finale also hints at another human villain on the horizon as the pilot reminds Rick, “It’s like he told you, there’s no escape for the living.” Who “he” is remains to be seen.
The first teaser for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live also gave some hints and confirmation about the story. The narration by Michonne confirms that she has learned Rick is alive and is on the hunt for him. While he was seen seemingly being recaptured by his enemies in The Walking Dead finale, the footage also looks to feature Rick fighting enemies out in the forest. This could mean that he escapes again and could be how he reunites with Michonne, or it could be the spinoff will show his previous escape attempt.
The Walking Dead Rick Grimes Spinoff: Trailer
While the full Rick and Michonne spinoff trailer hasn’t yet been released, the first footage was screened at SDCC 2023 with a brief teaser. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live teaser focuses on Michonne with her sword-wielding silhouette shown against a striking red background. Her narration explains that she lost someone years ago only to learn he is alive. The footage then cuts to Rick shown to be alive though it is unclear if he is still a captive. Though there is next to no actual footage from the show itself, seeing these two characters back and the promise of reuniting them makes it an effective first teaser.
Why The Rick Grimes Movies Are Now A Show
In 2018, after Andrew Lincoln’s exit from the show, AMC announced that there were plans to make The Walking Dead movie trilogy centered on Rick Grimes to properly explain what happened to the character after he was carted off by a Civic Republic Military (CRM) helicopter. After little to no news surrounding the Rick Grimes movie release, it was revealed at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con that the movie trilogy would now be a six-part miniseries focusing on Rick and Michonne. The Walking Dead series finale set up the Rick Grimes show by revealing that Michonne is on the hunt for her lost love, though it’s yet unclear how the two will be reunited.
Changing the Walking Dead movie into a show was the right call by AMC, as the landscape of the entertainment industry has changed drastically. Between streaming services reaching the height of their popularity and the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out theatrical releases, the way people consume media has shifted immensely over the last few years. Disney led the way during the pandemic, releasing many of its projects via Disney+ rather than in theaters, and other studios took notice. In addition, a miniseries format allows The Walking Dead to properly explore Rick’s journey after season 9 without the time constraints given by feature films. Though many fans were expecting a Rick Grimes movie, a show is the better choice.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
