The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman Wanted to Kill Major Character Early
3 min read
A young Robert Kirkman would have killed Rick Grimes. It was bad enough that fans had to watch Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Carl (Chandler Riggs) die, but Rick Grimes? Yes, it appears that one of the co-creators of The Walking Dead comic books thought the death of Rick (Andrew Lincoln) would have been sensational on AMC’s television adaptation.
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Kirkman’s revelation came at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con (via Entertainment Weekly).
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With [The] Walking Dead, I was much younger and much more reckless. I was an absolute lunatic. I would get in the writers’ room and be like, ‘Kill Rick Grimes today! I don’t care! It’ll be funny! People will freak out, and it’ll be fun!’ The writers were like, ‘Robert, you’re crazy. We can’t do that.’ But any time there were big changes in The Walking Dead, that’s what excited me.
The source material, which appeared in print, was created by Kirkman and Tony Moore, and the first issue hit stands nearly 20 years ago in October 2003. Kirkman wrote the stories while Moore handled the artwork. Rick Grimes was the lead protagonist, and the narrative revolved around the nightmarish post-apocalyptic world the comic book character inhabited.
Almost 16 years after Rick’s first appearance in The Walking Dead No. 1, the character faces death in TWD No. 191 titled The Last Stand. At the comic’s conclusion, Rick is shot by Sebastian. The cliffhanger picks up in TWD No. 192, Aftermath, which marks the demise of Rick Grimes.
Kirkman would have killed off AMC’s version of Rick Grimes
After being shot multiple times by Sebastian, in The Walking Dead No. 192, Rick Grimes succumbs to his mortal wounds and eventually perishes. Later in the same issue, his son Carl must shoot the zombified remains of his own father to give him peace. But if Robert Kirkman had his way, Andrew Lincoln may have exited the AMC series long before the actor eventually did in Season 9.
During the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, Kirkman did in fact reveal that he’d liked to have killed off Rick Grimes on the AMC series. However, prior to Andrew Lincoln’s departure from the show in Season 9, Episode 5, What Comes After, Kirkman seemed disappointed by the character’s departure from the show, but still showed plenty of empathy for the actor.
Kirkman said in an interview with Kevin Smith at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con (via IMDb).
It does make the differences between the comic and the show a little bit more pronounced. But, at the end of the day, it’s all about Andrew Lincoln. I mean, this is a human being, this is somebody that I’ve known for almost a decade that I love. He’s been sweating in Georgia, away from his family for so long.
Now, only after The Walking Dead has concluded its run on AMC, it’s time for Lincoln to reprise his role as the beloved Rick Grimes in a new spin-off titled The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. The new series also stars Danai Gurira as Michonne. Look for the upcoming show to drop on AMC and AMC+ in 2024. And check out the new trailer below:
