The Walking Dead rumor: Andrew Lincoln leaving the show after season 9

The Walking Dead is losing another OG character, really the OG character, Rick Grimes.

Comicbook today reported that The Walking Dead’s own Rick Grimes Andrew Lincoln will be leaving the show after season 9. According to CB several other main cast members are near the end of their contracts as well which leaves the fate of AMC’s signature hit in jeopardy after season 9.

The news caps off months of upheaval for The Walking Dead. After the death of Carl Grimes and the announcement that Angela Kang would take over as the showrunner for season 9 there was a lot of uncertainty about whether or not Lauren Cohan would return for season 9.

Ultimately Lauren Cohan signed on for six episodes in the first half of season 9, although it isn’t likely that she will appear in any episodes after that. And with other main cast members including Danai Gurira looking at the end of their current contracts at the end of season 9 if the show does continue past season 9 it will be looking at almost a complete reboot.

It’s hard to imagine The Walking Dead without Rick Grimes since it’s really been Rick’s story from the very beginning. The death of Carl Grimes hit the fandom hard, and this bombshell will send shockwaves through the fandom again. But there are lot of stories to tell within The Walking Dead universe so it’s entirely possible that the show could continue in a different form. Fear The Walking Dead has very successfully rebooted itself in season 4 and The Walking Dead could do the same.

What About The Other Characters?

If The Walking Dead does come to an end with the departure of Rick Grimes it’s entirely possible that some of the characters from the original show could transition over to Fear The Walking Dead the way that Morgan has.

There has been speculation since the crossover that Morgan’s transition was a “trial run” to see how crossovers would work and if there was potential for any other characters to make the jump from one show to another. It’s possible that Daryl, Carol, and some of the other popular characters could join the Fear world now that the two shows are on the same timeline.

Although it’s been teased that The Walking Dead season 9 is going to start with a time jump of anywhere between two and five years which would make more crossovers difficult. But for now the only thing that is certain is that beloved Rick Grimes’ story is coming to an end after season 9 of The Walking Dead.