The upcoming Rick Grimes TV show makes one The Walking Dead reunion less likely. The Walking Dead has finished its main series' 11-season run, and now the focus of the franchise is on upcoming spinoff shows featuring Rick and Michonne, Negan and Maggie, and Daryl Dixon. The biggest departure for The Walking Dead over the course of its run was Rick, who nearly died but was whisked off to unknown regions by a mysterious helicopter and an equally mysterious "B" designation. With Rick back in The Walking Dead via the series finale, his season 9 absence thankfully wasn't his last appearance on the show. However, he is still apart from the group.
The Rick Grimes movie trilogy was expected to reunite many of the remaining Walking Dead leads, but that project's change to a spinoff show killed those hopes. Viewers were also optimistic that Rick would return to the main group in the Walking Dead series finale, but that didn't happen. In July, showrunner and longtime The Walking Dead creative force Scott Gimple revealed that the new show will actually be focused on Rick and Michonne's relationship. That announcement combined with the other spinoffs and the series finale made a full reunion impossible since each set of characters is poised to take their zombie-killing skills to different parts of the world. Daryl is heading to France, while Negan and Maggie will be in the New York metro area for The Walking Dead: Dead City. There is potential for some guest appearances, but a Walking Dead reunion is very unlikely at this point.
Which Characters Can Appear In Rick Grimes' Show?
The separation of the main Walking Dead characters does leave an opening for others from the original series to cross paths with Rick and Michonne in their spinoff TV show. It seems likely that Judith Grimes will show up in the series about her dad and adoptive mom, along with her little brother, RJ. However, their Walking Dead reunion with mom and dad could be the emotional climax saved for the end of the series. Morgan Jones has been away from the main show and is living an entire other life in the first spinoff series, Fear the Walking Dead. Depending on how things go for him in season 8 of that show, he would be a logical guest for Rick's return given their connection going all the way back to The Walking Dead season 1.
It seems pretty certain that Jadis will have some presence in the Rick Grimes TV show as well. She was the one who had him flown away, and The Walking Dead: World Beyond revealed she was part of the Civic Republic. This also opens up the potential for many of The Walking Dead: World Beyond's characters to cross over into the new series. The main Walking Dead series is at its end, thankfully with Rick back in the franchise, but the number of spinoffs gives the world it created a chance to keep going, even without a full-scale Walking Dead reunion of the original main characters.
Why TWD Is Separating Its Main Characters
The Walking Dead series finale saw Rick Grimes back in the show, with many other characters departing on their own separate adventures. So, why is The Walking Dead trying to keep their characters apart? Two words: franchise potential. With the Rick Grimes TV show on the way and the hopes of a Walking Dead reunion between its main characters now dashed, AMC is forced to branch out from the flagship series in the form of spinoffs.
Many viewers hoped that the series ending would bring all the characters back to the good old days of The Walking Dead seasons 1 and 2, where everyone is still seen together. However, The Walking Dead is a very different show than it was in its humble beginnings, with a much larger scope and many more characters than ever before. Keeping the main cast apart sets up the multiple Walking Dead spinoff shows, as most of the leading characters are now getting their own stories. There will probably be crossovers between all the upcoming The Walking Dead spinoff shows, which will at least count as some sort of reunion.