Robert Kirkman Says Carl May Not Die On The Walking Dead

Death has come knocking for young Carl Grimes.

After nine years and eight seasons at the forefront of AMC’s The Walking Dead, the upcoming midseason premiere will signal the curtain call for Chandler Riggs’ one-eyed survivor, who will seemingly leave behind a “long-lasting legacy” as Rick Grimes and Co. brace for what is arguably the show’s biggest death.

It’s also the biggest deviation from Robert Kirkman’s comics yet, resulting in some disgruntled reactions among The Walking Dead community. Or at least, that’s what we’ve been led to believe. While it’s widely assumed that Carl will bite the bullet, and has even been confirmed by many of the show’s cast and crew members, Kirkman has now thrown us for a loop, saying that the character could end up surviving.

Speaking at a recent Walker Stalker Cruise Q&A panel, here’s what he revealed:

“He’s not dead yet. He might not die. You never know. But I think if, were that to happen, I think that it would have some interesting ramifications on Rick, that I think would energize and really kind of set things in motion in a really interesting way leading to the resolution of All Out War in a way that will make for a very exciting back half to season 8, so I think it’s going to be really cool.”

While all signs do point to Carl dying, the show has faked out fans before and could be intending on doing the same thing again with Riggs’ beloved character. It’d be pretty surprising and unexpected, but it is possible. At this point, though, we’d say it’s more likely that Kirkman’s just messing around with us – even if it is kind of cruel to give viewers false hope.

Either way, it won’t be long before we find out for sure, as The Walking Dead is all set to return to AMC on February 25th. It’ll do so with an episode titled “Honor,” which will be an 82-minute ride involving “new difficulties” and “hard decisions.” Will one of those difficulties be dealing with Carl’s death? Tune in to find out!