Season 7 marked a strong year for The Walking Dead, but it was far from perfect and certainly stumbled more than a few times. Despite the fact that many viewers were upset with the brutal deaths of Glenn and Abraham in the premiere, the arrival of Negan was exactly what the show needed and the character proved to be a fascinating villain.
Rick Grimes’ arc, on the other hand, was a little hit and miss. He spent the first half of the season completely passive after being “broken” by Negan, something many fans struggled to accept after years of seeing him being so proactive. That thankfully changed as time went on and he started preparing for all-out war. But what’s to come in season 8 for our beloved protagonist?
According to Lincoln, he enjoyed the challenges that season 7 brought him but that when the show returns, Rick will definitely be giving Negan a bit more push back.
“I mean, the thing that I’ve always been so thrilled about playing this role is the writers and the gang at AMC have always been very keen on pushing it in different directions and exploring different areas of who Rick Grimes is, which has been one of the great thrills. This has been one of the more unpleasant aspects of his psyche, this submissive version, but certainly the first eight would be not a pleasant experience but it was a great challenge. A good acting challenge. And certainly I enjoyed having a bit more bite, bit more grit in my belly, sharing scenes with Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I think it’s going to be a lot more fun season eight, pitted against him with a bit more push back.”
That sounds pretty exciting and is just what The Walking Dead needs right now. Lincoln isn’t the show’s first star to tease a promising season 8, and it should be interesting seeing how Rick steps up to take down Negan and his Saviors. Fans of the comic books may think they know what’s coming, but if the show has taught us anything, it’s that it isn’t afraid to do its own thing every now and then.
The Walking Dead doesn’t return to AMC until October, but we expect to see the first trailer debut at Comic-Con in July. As always, watch this space for more.
