‘The Walking Dead’ Showrunner Talks Writing Out Rick Grimes In Season 9: ‘I Just Don’t Want To Mess It Up’

The Walking Dead Season 9 is just a handful of weeks away, and fans are anxious to see how the character of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) exits the show. Rick has been the main character of The Walking Dead ever since it premiered, and though there are several other important characters in the series, many fans are concerned on the direction of the show without Andrew Lincoln’s character. During a recent preview special of The Walking Dead Season 9, showrunner Angela Kang spoke on the difficulties of writing out the famed star, as ComicBook reported.

Angela Kang started things off by saying that Andrew Lincoln is one of the best human beings anyone could ever meet. Kang said that everyone on The Walking Dead loves him, and that he’s an incredible leader and actor. The Walking Dead showrunner remarked that Lincoln and Kang know each other’s families, and that the entire cast of The Walking Dead are family. Angela Kang then described the pressure she felt when writing Rick Grimes out of The Walking Dead Season 9, as ComicBook documented.

“To write his exit on the show, which we knew was coming, is just… I just don’t want to mess it up. I want to do service to this character. The writers, and everybody, the crew, the actors, everybody’s just putting their all into it because we love him so much and we respect him so much, and we want to do service to that journey. I feel a great responsibility to the fans to try to write him out in a way that’s worthy of his character, so I hope that we accomplished that.”

Human nature brings us together. It can also tear us apart. #TWD pic.twitter.com/NFrmVt5VVF

— The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) August 23, 2018

The Walking Dead showrunner explained on The Talking Dead how Season 9 is a new chapter in the story, as ComicBook reported. On The Talking Dead, Angela Kang clarified how the first eight seasons were intended to be one chapter, and spoke to the fact that now, as season 9 begins, they are getting into a new part of what the characters are doing. Kang said that fans will see how the people on the show will try to rebuild civilization after the war between Rick’s group and Negan’s. She also noted that fans will see how people on the show grapple with rebuilding their communities, and how they end up looking to the past in some ways to build up their present and plan for the future.

The Walking Dead Season 9 returns to AMC on October 7.