Who will get Rick’s comic storyline at the end of The Walking Dead?

Which character will take on Rick’s comic storyline in season 11 of The Walking Dead?

Now that we have an end in sight with The Walking Dead finishing after season 11, we can start to look at how that might go down, and specifically who is going to take comic-Rick’s storyline.

Warning: this article contains major comic spoilers!

We can make an assumption that the final season of the show will roughly follow the last 2 volumes of the comic’s life, with the story focusing on Rick and co. finding and settling in the Commonwealth.

The culmination of the story occurs with Dwight attempting an uprising against the status quo, Rick killing him to keep the peace, but a civil war threatening anyway. In the end Rick settles it all with an epic speech, as is Rick’s way.

However, the son of the deposed governor takes it all personally and shoots Rick in his bed, finally ending the reign of Rick Grimes.

It’s an emotionally powerful story and ending for our central hero, so it’s likely this impactful tale is one the show will endeavour to emulate on screen. But with the departure of Andrew Lincoln, we know it can’t go to Rick. So who will get this big final bow?

Despite the fact that Daryl is the natural inheritor of Rick’s crown, taking on many of his comic storylines, the news of a Carol and Daryl spin-off also rules either of the OGs out from taking this particular plot.

So who does that leave to take it on?

Maggie

With Lauren Cohan returning to the show, she is the longest-serving cast member after Carol and Daryl, and with Maggie a proven leader she could certainly fit into the role.

However, Maggie is still alive in the comic and has her own storyline leading Hilltop during the Commonwealth story. It makes sense that TV-Maggie would fit into the same role, especially given the existence of Negan in the mix.

Maggie is unlikely to settle in Commonwealth with the main group if Negan is any part of that, and she may very well go up against her own family due to their acceptance of the man who killed her husband.

Leading Hilltop and continuing with most of comic Maggie’s stories seems the most likely outcome for Lauren Cohan’s version of the character.

Gabriel

With the departure of Michonne, Gabriel has been taking on more as his role as leader of Alexandria’s council. He’s a competent leader with an ability to talk to the masses and keep the peace.

He also has a strong sense of justice and equality, and could very easily come into a new community and want to ensure everyone there is treated well.

In many ways, he seems the ideal candidate to take over Rick’s political positioning in Commonwealth. However, the big question is will he live to reach that point?

Gabriel has a big graphic death in the comics at the current point in the story, and given his position in the season 10 finale – guarding the kids at the hospital – it does seem a red flag that he’s not long for this world.

So it feels like our religious leader is more likely to be entering the gates of heaven than the gates of the Commonwealth anytime soon.

Aaron

If there was a single most likely candidate to take on Rick’s comic role, it would be Aaron. Ross Marquand’s look has morphed into comic-Rick’s over recent seasons, and most significantly Aaron has the lost arm injury that matches Rick’s.

This injury plays a big part in Rick’s pivotal speech as he waves his stump and uses it to illustrate the scars they have from fighting, and a reminder of what they have sacrificed to get to where they are.

Aaron also has the calm, reasonable demeanor needed to sway a braying mob, and we’ve seen him negotiate well with others in the way he brought Gamma into the fold.

His history with Alexandria also makes him most fitting, due to the fact the comic timeline ends with Michonne and Carl taking Rick’s body back to Alexandria to be buried beside his love Andrea.

As Aaron is an original Alexandria resident – long before Rick showed up – taking him back to the place he lived with the love of his life, Eric, would be a moving way to round off the story.

Truly, the only downside would be leaving Gracie without a father again, which none of us wants to see.

Ezekiel

A perhaps more outside candidate is our beloved King Ezekiel. Assuming he finds treatment for his thyroid (or finds that it’s benign), the Commonwealth could be a wonderful opportunity for him to get his leading groove back.

We know that Ezekiel is top notch when it comes to giving rousing speeches, and just how much he is devoted to peace and a community for all.

He would be an ideal candidate to work with – and be respected by – the Commonwealth’s snobbish governor Pamela. He has the charm and depth that a woman like her would admire.

The downside is that, unlike Aaron, he doesn’t have the history with Alexandria and taking him there to be buried would be odd, and a return to the Kingdom wouldn’t work for all the other characters.

On the other hand, also unlike Aaron, he has no dependents left and it would be a fitting legacy for him to end his life by bringing a community together in the way he’d hoped to with the fair that went so horribly wrong.

Whoever takes on the role, the end of the show will need a big emotional punch that delivers like the comic events in “Rest in Peace”. Hopefully season 11 will deliver that, along with some surprises along the way to keep things fresh right up until the end.