Why AMC Spoiled Rick Grimes’ Exit From ‘The Walking Dead’

If you’re a die-hard fan of The Walking Dead comics then you know that main character Rick Grimes has gone through a lot. He got his hand cut off, his best friend tried to kill him and both his wife and daughter get killed by The Governor. But he’s still alive and well and making part of the main series, up till now. That, as you may or may not know, didn’t happen in the TV series. So far what we know is that he flew off in a helicopter and, according to AMC, he will be part of other content related to Robert Kirkman’s zombie universe. Actually, that decision made some fans angry and upset about how “he was sent off”.

On this note, AMC President of Programming David Madden recently spoke to The New York Times about why the network “spoiled” Andrew Lincoln’s character Rick Grimes’s exit from the series. If you’re unaware, AMC strongly advertised the “last episodes of Rick Grimes” during the last part of the ninth season. Basically, the network felt that fans ought to know when the emblematic character was leaving the show. Here’s what Madden said:

“If you were a fan of the show we wanted you to know this was your opportunity to see, live, his departure from the series. We wanted to honor that moment, and then at the same time tell people what would come next.”

Andrew Lincoln seemed against this approach as he also told the Times that he was sad fans didn’t experience that moment in a surprising manner:

“The greatest regret I have is that people aren’t experiencing this fresh.”

Rick Grimes is such an iconic character for the zombie genre that people were upset he didn’t get a more “proper” send-off. After all, he’s been the hero for Kirkman’s zombie apocalypse universe for several years and fans may feel disoriented as to who may lead the group of survivors now. We’ll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, AMC is working towards Lincoln’s first Rick Grimes movie in 2019. According to The Walking Dead producer and AMC executive Scott Gimple, this movie will continue Rick Grimes’ story in the zombie apocalypse universe, but not necessarily in the TV series:

“These films are going to be big evolutions of what we’ve been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features. We’re starting with the first part of the continuing story of Rick Grimes, and there is much more on the way, featuring yet-unseen worlds of The Walking Dead and faces from the show’s past, as well as new characters we hope to become favorites, told by TWD veterans and emerging voices. We want to break new ground with different, distinct stories, all part of the same world that’s captured our imagination for nearly a decade of the Dead.”

The Walking Dead returns with new episodes Sunday, February 10 on AMC.

Source: The New York Times