After a landmark run, The Walking Dead is set to wrap up in 2022 with its eleventh season. It won’t be the end of the TWD franchise as a whole, though, as the legacy of the parent series will continue on through various different spinoffs. Including those Rick Grimes movies that we’ve been waiting to get for the longest time. But could Andrew Lincoln make a comeback to our TV screens in season 11 to see off the show he helped launch?
The good news is that Lincoln isn’t ruling the idea out. According to the British actor, the season is still coming together, so he doesn’t know either way yet, but he did make clear that he has a lot of affection for the series and the people who make it. As such, he would “never say never.”
Here’s what the star told SFX Magazine:
“That’s a very good question. The easy answer is I have no idea. I don’t think it’s written yet, but I would never say never to that because everybody that’s still doing the TV show are dear friends, and it’s an extraordinary feat that they’re still going and making this beautiful and ground-breaking show that still resonates with the world.”
Against all the odds, The Walking Dead has well and truly proven that it can survive without Rick around to act as its lead. Unlike in the comics, the TV series has successfully moved ahead without The Brave Man for the past couple of seasons, with its strong cast of supporting characters shifting their weight instead. But it would be something special if Rick did return in at least the final ever episode, just to bring the whole saga full circle. A comeback for Danai Gurira’s Michonne or even Chandler Riggs’ Carl Grimes (somehow) wouldn’t go amiss, either.
Following the recent six extra season 10 episodes, The Walking Dead‘s next run will be a whole third larger than normal and clock in at a super-sized 24 installments. That means that it’ll debut on AMC this fall one last time before stretching into next year. Expect the Commonwealth storyline, which has only been briefly touched on so far, to be the driving force.