“The Walking Dead” fans have been waiting four years for the announced Rick Grimes movies. Big disappointment followed at San Diego Comic Con 2022.
This article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of all kino.de editors.
For nine seasons, or 120 episodes, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) led his allies through the world of the walking dead before blowing up a bridge to protect the Hilltop community and thus sealing his own fate. This loss was not only difficult for Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Co. to top it off, Andrew Lincoln’s exit from the series also hit the audience hard. But anyone who has watched carefully knows: Rick is alive! In fact, his story should continue in three (!) movies. It is with a heavy heart that we now have to say goodbye to this idea…
Deleted movies – only a small consolation instead
As part of San Diego Comic Con 2022, Andrew Lincoln and Michonne actress Danai Gurira announced that we can expect a “The Walking Dead” spin-off for Rick and Michonne in 2023. Basically good news. In the same vein, however, Scott Gimple, responsible for the “TWD” universe, announced that the series would be released in theaters. substitute should (via YouTube). The way this announcement was made seemed a little “sneaky” to me, because the fans in the room were (rightly) enthusiastic about the surprise appearance of The Walking Dead stars, were happy about the newly announced series, and likely to be in all the euphoria he didn’t immediately realize that an entire movie trilogy was being stolen from him.
Had AMC canceled movies outside of Comic Con, the outrage would likely be much greater. For ages we’ve wondered what exactly happened to Rick Grimes and Michonne. And the answer is another The Walking Dead spin-off? We’ve been looking forward to movie theaters for four years, and are we really getting a series instead? Really now? A poor substitute in my opinion. This is what the loyal community of “TWD” fans think too, who express their disappointment on Twitter:
“How the hell did we go from ‘We’re getting 3 Rick Grimes movies’ to ‘We’re getting a 6 episode series’?”
“I’ve waited five years for the Rick Grimes movie trilogy and now it’s going to be an AMC miniseries with Scott M. Gimple as the showrunner? Gimple ruined The Walking Dead, how can he still have a job?”
“An ‘epic love story’? – Uncomfortable.”
The Walking Dead misses a chance for something big
The style of “The Walking Dead” has a certain uniqueness that exudes charm as a series. Tracking shots, close-ups, and lots of dialogue make the story palpable for me, while long shots and nature shots bring calm to the violence-dominated dystopia. Anyone who celebrates this style, among other things, should thank the cameraman David Boyd, who is responsible for the fact that the camera settings of “The Walking Dead” are based on the images of the comics of the same name by Robert Kirkman. To create this look, those responsible (at least until the tenth season) turned to 16mm film (via Studiodaily).
Although production for season 11 had to switch to digital recording due to the corona pandemic, the style was largely preserved through post-production (via Insider). A step that I personally appreciate a lot. Still, I was extremely excited to experience Rick and Michonne’s world in a cinematic way.
Six hour-long episodes will now replace three two-hour long featurettes. So we trade six hours of material for six hours of material. But a film series would be much more complex and expensive to produce. Perhaps a risk those in charge did not want to take. Very bad. Because “The Walking Dead” could have taken a step that only a few series have managed to do.
Regardless, the other planned The Walking Dead spin-offs are certainly nothing to sneeze at:
No great cinema, but great feelings?
Another point that makes me cringe about the Rick spin-off is the description of the series. It says: “This series presents an epic love story between two characters who are changed by a changing world.” I have no problem with romance in movies and series per se. But “The Walking Dead” has managed to evoke emotions and noises in me every season, without getting into the romantic roller coaster of emotions. Viewers have shed a tear or two more than once in recent years – in the rarest of cases, however, love was the deciding factor. And if I’m being completely honest, I don’t think anything will come close to the relationship between Maggie (Lauren Cohen) and Glenn (Steven Yeun). Neither did Rick and Michonne.
I guess I’m not the only one who was hoping to learn more about Rick’s post-bridge career in the movies. Where did he end up? How come he never came back? And why didn’t he try to contact his group in some other way? With the series announced, the fear is that we won’t get answers to these questions, but instead have to watch two legendary characters kill a bunch of walkers before embracing each other in episode 6.
Maybe I will learn better, I really hope so. Unfortunately, when I think about the Rick Michonne series at the moment, I’m feeling a little disappointed.
did you like this article? Discuss current cinema releases, your favorite series and movies you’re looking forward to – on Instagram and Facebook. You can also follow us on Flipboard and Google News.