In retrospect, it now seems natural that Rick and Michonne began shacking up on The Walking Dead, so it's easy to forget how surprised viewers were when they first became a couple. Now that the show has established "Richonne" as an ongoing thing, as opposed to a momentary post-apocalyptic trauma-induced fling, the question is how the relationship will develop going forward.
As Season 7 gets set to resume, Rick and Michonne are deeply involved in rebuilding the group's strength - both in terms of numbers and firepower - ahead of a confrontation with Negan and the Saviors. But once things inevitably settle down, and assuming both of them survive the carnage to come (a fair assumption), the characters will likely have some tough decisions to make about their future.
What does Andrew Lincoln aka Rick Grimes think the future has in store for his character and Danai Gurira's Michonne? Lincoln talked to ComicBook about the on-screen pairing and said he believes Rick and Michonne are for real and will eventually contribute to rebuilding the human race by having some kids:
"Oh, yeah. Without a doubt. I think the whole point is to start again and to restart and it's about the future, and it's obviously the next generation and, as far as we can tell, we're outnumbered undead to human a lot. It is about repopulating the world. I think that they make a terrific couple and I don't think he would hesitate. Also, maybe in a couple of episodes time, there may be a jump ahead in the curve and maybe setting themselves to that job at hand."
One would think Rick and Michonne might be slightly hesitant to make babies given how things turned out for Glenn and Maggie after she became pregnant. Would Rick really want to impregnate Michonne knowing he might soon end up on the wrong end of a blunt object, leaving Michonne and their child to fend for themselves? Or is that just a risk you have to take in the name of re-population?
There's no question that Rick and Michonne as a couple are strong enough to raise kids amid the horror of the zombie apocalypse. Even if Rick occasionally falters in his leadership, Michonne is there to deliver a speech to his face and get him back on the right track. Michonne as we remember spent a lot of time fending for herself with her pair of dismembered zombie pets before joining the group, so she's about as tough as you can get.
Of course, when we start talking about Rick and Michonne bringing new life into the world, we're talking about something that will happen quite a ways down the road. Right now the group has more pressing matters, like dealing with that whole Negan problem. Season 7.5 of The Walking Dead promises to be less grim than the season's first half.
The Walking Dead returns on Sunday, February 12th, 2017.
Source: ComicBook.com