This Walking Dead article contains spoilers.
Rumors of Rick Grimes’ demise were greatly exaggerated.
AMC made a meal out of promoting The Walking Dead season 9, episode 5, “What Comes After” as “Rick Grimes’ final episode.” Traditionally on The Walking Dead, somebody’s “final episode” means they’re about to suffer a gruesome death.
As we now know, that didn’t quite happen in “What Comes After.” Rick didn’t die in his final episode. He came pretty damn close after sustaining a notably Christ-like side wound and being blasted off of a bridge and into a churning river. Still, Rick survived all of that because you quite literally cannot kill the man. Jadis discovered Rick on a river bank miles downstream and radio’ed in to her mysterious band of helicopter folk. She doesn’t have an “A” like she promised but Rick is apparently a solid “B.” The helicopter community accepts Jadis’ offer and Rick is medevaced out to presumed safety.
Advertisement
Read More: The Walking Dead – Rick Grimes’ Ending Explained
We have no reason to doubt that this was really Rick Grimes’ final episode. Andrew Lincoln’s desire to leave the show’s grueling production schedule in Atlanta behind to spend more time with his family in London is undoubtedly sincere. But we also can’t help but notice that Rick is very much not dead.
And wouldn’t you know it – AMC agreed! AMC announced (very) shortly after Rick’s final episode that the adventures of Rick Grimes will continue on film. Andrew Lincoln will portray Rick once again in a series of Walking Dead movies. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what could come next in The Walking Dead universe. Hey, maybe he’ll even make a return to the series.
First, it’s worth taking a look at what Rick’s comic book counterpart gets up to in the time following his departure from the show. It may help give us some clues as to what’s to come for whoever fulfills the “Rick” role on the show and what’s next for Rick, himself on the big screen.
The Rick of the time jump following the war against Negan is a grizzled old war veteran. He is more or less retired from adventuring to better serve as a leader of Alexandria. This means that while he’s not always on the ground, slicing up walkers, he is heavily involved in the various political conflicts to come.
The first conflict is the one against the Whisperers, who are now appearing on the show, with Samantha Morton starring as their enigmatic leader, Alpha, and Ryan Hurst as her hulking bodyguard, Beta. None of the other Whisperers have names because they live an animalistic lifestyle and see no need for them. The Whisperers decide to deal with the zombie apocalypse by essentially becoming zombies themselves. They wear the skin of the dead, shuffle along with hordes, and live off the land.
Naturally, as the communities begin to expand, they accidentally trip across some Whisperer land. Rick has an integral role in confronting the Whisperers. During one reconnaissance mission, Rick is actually abducted by the group and brought to meet Alpha. She shows him the massive horde she’s gathered as a stern warning not to mess with them.
Read More: Everything You Need to Know About The Walking Dead Season 10
Of course, Rick is eventually forced to mess with them after the Whisperers kill 12 of his people. He assembles a militia led by Dwight to battle the Whisperers in yet another war.
In The Walking Dead season 10, someone else will have to step up into Rick’s leadership role. Based on what we’ve seen in the back half of season 9, some combination of Aaron, Michonne, Gabriel, Daryl, and Carol will likely have to confront Alpha.
That’s likely what is in in store for The Walking Dead season 10. Now what about Rick Grimes: Movie Star? When it comes to this series of movies that Rick will headline, there is a pretty big question that needs answering. Where is Rick going? The short answer is that we have no earthly idea. There is obviously no clear analog in the comics to Rick being whisked away on a helicopter by Jadis. Still, we can certainly speculate.
It’s entirely possible that Rick is en route to a place called the Commonwealth. In the comic book series, the Commonwealth is a new community that is notable for its sheer size. The combined forces of Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, the Sanctuary, and Oceanside amount to hundreds or perhaps even thousands of people. The Commonwealth has around 50,000 people.
Read More: The Walking Dead Season 9 Ending Explained
The Commonwealth is located in Ohio and Eugene discovers it when fooling around with a repaired radio and getting in contact with someone named Stephanie. Stephanie invites Eugene to come visit the Commonwealth, and at Rick’s direction, Eugene leads a squad consisting of Michonne, Magna, Yumiko, and Siddiq out to meet the new community. What they eventually discover is astonishing.
The Commonwealth has more or less rebuilt things to the way they were before the apocalypse. People live comfortably and even have a stadium to occasionally watch live sporting events. The community’s governor, Pamela Milton, dresses and behaves like a standard politician. Michonne decides to stay behind in the Commonwealth to serve as a lawyer while Eugene and company escort Pamela back to meet Rick.
Now, what does this have to do with the Rick Grimes movie? Quite a lot potentially. If there is one community that has access to operate a helicopter it’s the Commonwealth. 50,000 people is a LOT. One might argue that depicting such a massive society might be outside the capabilities of a TV show entirely.
Read More: The Walking Dead Comic’s New Villains Represent the Evils of Our Society
There’s also the matter of what goes down at the Commonwealth. In the comics, people who run the Commonwealth are pitched as kinda-sorta villains. They’re not monsters like the Saviors or the Whisperers but they do have staunchly different political opinions from our merry band of survivors. Rebuilding society exactly like it was means rebuilding society exactly like it was…including prejudice, wealth disparity, and class systems. While the Commonwealth is still a peaceful place at the moment, the underclass of this civilization is noticeably unhappy about their lot in life.
If Rick were to visit the Commonwealth as part of a movie series, it could present another interesting route for him to return to the show as well. How interesting would it be if, when we’re introduced to the Commonwealth on the show, the community is not run by Pamela Milton but our old friend Rick Grimes?
Perhaps Rick, faced with this new, more comfortable reality, would ascend to a leadership role in the Commonwealth and reinstitute a class system to keep things running smoothly. Rick is a great man but he’s not a perfect man. In fact, the Commonweatlh spells the end for both Rick Grimes’ storyline and the comic itself.
Maybe that’s what Jadis meant when speaking to the man on the other side of the walkie when she told him that she now had a “B.” It’s still unclear exactly what these “A”s and “B”s mean. The two letters (“A” in particular”) have popped up quite frequently throughout the history of the show. My best guess is that this new community is looking for quality, decent people to help rebuild society. That’s why preacher man Gabriel was an A and Rick, who has had to do horrific things to survive, is a B.
In reality, a Rick Grimes movie or even eventual return to the TV series would not be bound by the comic book storylines. The show is progressing further and further away from the central plot anyway. That helicopter could be taking Rick Grimes anywhere. AMC wants a Walking Dead movie set in France? Boom. That helicopter goes straight to an airfield where a community of French survivors pick up their new “B” and bring him aboard. The possibilities are pretty damn close to endless.
On a practical level, it probably works out for Lincoln as well. One would have to imagine/hope/assume that Lincoln is going to be making a bit more money as the centerpiece of a Walking Dead film franchise. He also no longer has the same Atlanta filming restrictions as the show. Hell, the movie could take place in Lincoln’s native London…and oops we just remade 28 Days Later!
Alec Bojalad is TV Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his stuff here. Follow him at his creatively-named Twitter handle @alecbojalad