The “Walking Dead” universe just got bigger.
A spinoff series centered around Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira’s Michonne Hawthorne is set at AMC+, the two actors revealed in a surprise appearance at the last-ever “The Walking Dead” San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday. The limited series will consist of six episodes and is expected to premiere next year. Scott Gimple will serve as showrunner, and Lincoln and Gurira are executive producers.
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The spinoff is going forward in place of the previously announced “Walking Dead” films, which were set to be led by Lincoln. According to its logline, the show “presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?”
“Rick and Michonne are two of my favorite people and Danai and Andy are two of my favorite people,” Gimple said in a statement. “Working with all of them continues to be a dream come true. The three of us, along with a terrific team of TWD all stars and incredible new voices, are crafting an insane love epic worth the long, long wait.”
Added Lincoln, “This has been the most extraordinary journey playing Rick Grimes for the best part of a decade. The friendships I’ve made along the way are deep and lasting, so it’s fitting that I finally get to complete the story with Danai and Scott and the rest of the TWD family. I’m so excited to be returning to the screen as Rick, reuniting with Danai as Michonne, and bringing the fans an epic love story to add to the Walking Dead Universe.”
“Michonne and this TWD family has meant so much to me, and to continue the journey of these beloved characters, alongside Scott and Andy, both creatively and in front of the camera, and bringing The Walking Dead fans something truly special is just glorious,” Gurira said. “I can’t wait to pick up the katana again.”
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