Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
When Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) left The Walking Dead, fans felt a flurry of emotions. First, when Rick sacrificed his life to save everyone on the show by blowing up a bridge full of zombies. Then when he turned out to be (barely) alive, and was whisked away on a mysterious helicopter. And then again, when it was immediately announced that Lincoln would be headed into three Rick Grimes focused movies.
…and then, there was nothing. No news on the movies, no date announcement, nothing. Until now. As officially announced at San Diego Comic-Con, the Rick Grimes movies won’t debut on AMC, or on Netflix: they’ll premiere in movie theaters thanks to Universal Pictures, as revealed with a short teaser seen above.
Initially, when AMC was trumping up that Lincoln would be leaving one of the biggest shows on television, it was presumed the only way that would happen is with the character’s death. Grimes had a daughter (Judith), a wife (Michonne), and a life in the Alexandria Safe Zone. Why would family man and leader Rick ever leave, unless he was being taken out of the equation forever? Add in that The Walking Dead is a show unafraid of killing off characters, and it was reasonable to think that Rick Grimes was zombie food.
That same assumption held through most of the Season 9 episode “What Comes After,” which started with Rick impaled on a pylon and ended with the aforementioned bridge explosion. Instead, he somehow survived, and was taken to safety by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), who was working for a mysterious group. That group had a working helicopter, medical equipment, and seemed to be sorting survivors into “A” and “B” groups, seemingly either harvesting them or recruiting them. Also of note? Though we never saw who was piloting the helicopter, it was labeled with an unmissable three ring logo.
Rick was whisked away, and we were told that the first Rick Grimes movie would take place right after “What Comes After” ended, including the helicopter ride. Meanwhile, The Walking Dead jumped nearly a decade into the future for the rest of Season 9, with no Rick Grimes sighting in the meantime.
However, the story continued — sort of — over on Fear the Walking Dead. Timeline-wise, that show’s currently running fifth season takes place a few months or so before “What Comes After,” over in Texas. There, we learned that the helicopter people are well organized with incredible resources and a militaristic vision of the future. They want to be prepared for the eventual end of the zombie apocalypse, and be ready to take over with people are resources. Will that clash with Rick Grimes’ vision of the world, once he recovers from his injuries? I’d say that’s a fair bet.
Regardless, we’ll know a lot more when the Rick Grimes movies hit your local cinema.
