The Walking Dead fans got very excited yesterday when an IMDb credit page listed Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes as appearing in The Walking Dead: World Beyond‘s first season finale. The beloved character departed the core show in the ninth run and was last seen wounded but alive and in the care of the Civic Republic Military.
The group feature heavily in World Beyond, so it makes sense that if Grimes was to return, it’d be with them. Unfortunately, however, it seems that Lincoln’s addition to the credits was in error, as an AMC representative said reports of him being in the episode were “not accurate.” The network apparently went out of their way to deny this as they were worried fans would end up disappointed if they tuned in only to find no sign of Rick.
But he isn’t gone forever. There’s a Walking Dead movie trilogy in the works starring the character alongside Pollyanna McIntosh’s Anne and probably Danai Gurira’s Michonne. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in delays to the project and caused a rift to form between Universal and AMC Theatres that may mean the films will debut on VOD, but they’re expected to shoot fairly soon. Nothing else is known about Rick’s return, though the teaser trailer hinted that the story will take place in Philadelphia.
In the meantime, World Beyond may be subtly setting up the events of the movies. The show has certainly shed some more light on the Civic Republic Military, as well as their walker experiments that may well result in a cure or vaccine. There’s also a long-burning mystery as to what characters being designated ‘A’ or ‘B’ means – with Rick being a ‘B.’ The rest of the first season may answer some of these questions, though I’m betting they’re going to leave the major revelations for the films.
New episodes of The Walking Dead: World Beyond premiere Sundays at 10/9c on AMC, with the finale set to air on December 6th, 2020.