The Walking Dead: Will Rick Grimes lose his hand?

The Walking Dead shocked everyone with the third episode of season six. With that, some of the other things that happened in “Thank You” have been pushed to the side or ignored for now. One of those things was Rick Grimes cutting his hand while engaging in hand-to-hand combat with some walkers.

Fans in the comic book community automatically jumped up and thought to themselves that a storyline from The Walking Dead‘s graphic novels might be playing out on television while casual viewers were left unsure as to what the future held for Rick Grimes and his hand.

Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead comics – Image and Skybound /

As comic readers know, Rick Grimes loses his hand to The Governor in the comics. Although we’re well past that part of the story on AMC’s television series, sometimes things just happen at different times on the show and it is possible that the protagonist of the series might be moving toward having his hand removed.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. As fast as the rumor swirled about Rick, Showrunner Scott M. Gimple shut it down. Here is what Gimple said to TV Line:

"“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something definitive: Rick is OK regarding that cut. His hand will survive. There will be a bandage. There will be some ointment involved. But he’s going to walk away from it.”"

Even if that wound doesn’t result in him losing his hand, it was a nice call to the comics and something that could get people talking. While it wasn’t bound to be as big of a conversation topic as the events that happened later in the episode, Rick losing his hand would be a huge step toward making the show more like The Walking Dead‘s comic book.

In the past, the actor who plays Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) has pushed for Rick to lose the hand. However, it wasn’t met with a very positive response from those in charge.

"“You know, I campaigned two seasons ago when the Governor was around. I was saying, ‘You’ve gotta do the hand, guys!’ And Victor, who was in charge of special effects, just said, ‘No, no no no. Anybody else but not you. It’ll cost a fortune with green screen and blue screen,’ said Lincoln."

While Rick’s hand will be okay, the thought of him losing his hand at some time in the future still remains in the heads of some fans. Although it won’t happen with this injury, there’s a chance that it could become reality at some point on The Walking Dead‘s hit AMC television show.

What do you think? Should Rick Grimes lose his hand in the comics? And was this injury just a red herring for comic book fans? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Next: The Walking Dead's 50 most shocking moments and deaths

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