Expanding The Walking Dead franchise leaves the possibility for Rick Grimes to return

AMC has big plans for The Walking Dead franchise and this may mean that  we won’t be seeing the last of Rick Grimes.

AMC’s President and CEO Josh Sapan has recently spoken out on having plans for The Walking Dead franchise for the next 10 years.  According to Bloomberg, AMC wants to expand the Universe of The Walking Dead by producing several movies for a TV network or streaming service that could spin off into different series.

With The Walking Dead being AMC’s most popular show, there is no doubt that they have big plans for the narratives of future projects for the franchise.

The upcoming season 9 of The Walking Dead will be Andrew Lincoln’s last season playing Rick Grimes. While this news came as a shock to so many fans, there is a possibility that fans won’t be seeing the last of Rick Grimes in season 9.

Lincoln himself told fans at San Diego Comic-Con over the summer that he wasn’t putting down his sheriff’s hat just yet:

"My relationship with this part is far from over, I’m not gonna say anything more than that but I will say, watch this season."

Lincoln’s statement leaves a lot of speculation as to whether Rick Grimes will actually be killed off in season 9 or not. Perhaps Rick Grimes will have an open-ended exit, which would allow Lincoln to return in the future to the franchise as Rick Grimes. While it’s quite possible that Lincoln might return as Rick Grimes on the show in the future, he might return for a possible Walking Dead movie instead.

While movies wouldn’t take as long as the show to film, this could mean that Andrew Lincoln could possibly return to play Rick Grimes again sometime in the future. Lincoln’s statement definitely makes it seem like he won’t be saying goodbye to Rick Grimes anytime soon.

We can only expect to see amazing projects come from AMC and the future of The Walking Dead franchise.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 7th for Rick Grimes’ final episodes.