The Walking Dead has been a pop culture touchtone for over a decade now and there are no plans to slow down. Though the series is no longer the overnight ratings juggernaut it once was, it still rates as one of AMC’s most popular shows and is currently airing its tenth season on the network. That’s a mighty impressive milestone, however you look at it.
Moreover, the franchise is continuing to expand, with a second spinoff in production to accompany the mainline series and fellow spinoff Fear The Walking Dead. And while that’s exciting in its own right, the thing that has most people talking is the film continuation of the property.
AMC announced that there would be three movies set in the world of The Walking Dead and that the first would follow Rick Grimes, who left the original series after heroically sacrificing himself in the early part of season 9. Beyond the fact that it will follow him, however, little’s known about what’s coming our way.
Though it doesn’t have a definite release date yet, we’re no doubt getting closer and closer to the movie and lately, those behind the project have been opening up about it. Actress Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays Jadis/Anne, the former leader of the Scavengers, whose character was written out alongside Andrew Lincoln’s Grimes, is the latest to do so and has spoken about what she envisions for the film, saying:
I am expecting a lot of action and adventure, twists, as per usual. I’m sure there will be new walkers to see, because this is in a different place. And as we’ve seen with Jadis before, she had these weaponized walkers unlike any we’ve seen before, so I’m excited to see what [TWD special effects makeup artist Greg] Nicotero comes up with in that regard and these new versions of walkers that we’ll be able to see.
While this doesn’t give us any concrete information, it does hint that the proceedings will take place in a vastly different locale. As such, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of world Rick Grimes and Jadis are going to have to deal with and how things are different in other areas. For instance, is everything as apocalyptic everywhere else as they are in southern Georgia, where the mainline series takes place?
Whatever’s in store, fans are eagerly anticipating the movie as it’s a huge narrative leap from the comic source material, further adding a level of mystery to the production. The interesting thing’s going to be seeing how the film relates to everything else in the canon, but because it isn’t bound to any of The Walking Dead‘s various shows and has deviated from the comics so much already, there are innumerable options for the future of Rick Grimes, and we can’t wait to see where AMC takes him next.