The Walking Dead creator says pandemic allows more time 'to cook' Rick Grimes trilogy

Andrew Lincoln's return to The Walking Dead universe via a planned trilogy of Rick Grimes-centric films is still in the works, even amidst the turbulent coronavirus pandemic. According to IGN, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman offered an update (the first we've gotten in quite awhile) on the hotly-anticipated movies during an appearance at a virtual Skybound event this past weekend.

"There's tons of stuff going on behind the scenes. I don't want anyone to think that we're just kind of waiting around for this pandemic to end," he said, going on to say that the Hollywood hiatus will benefit Rick's big screen adventures in the long run.

"I would say that, if anything, the pandemic is going to make a lot of movies better," he continued. "I think the Rick Grimes movie chief among them, just because we're getting a lot more time to cook this thing and make sure it's perfect. But when things do quiet down, you guys are going to hear a ton more about this movie."

Lincoln's long-running character peaced out in Season 9, leaving Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) to pick up the protagonist slack. Gurira decided to part ways with the series in Season 10, with Michonne heading out to discover whether or not Rick was still alive. The badass, katana-wielding zombie slayer could possibly return in the Grimes-related projects.

Back in January, TWD brand manager Scott M. Gimple promised that they would take the franchise "in some wild new directions." He added: "Rick will be challenged in different ways that, in some ways, everything that he’s been through has sort of prepared him for. It’s a much larger world than one that he had been operating in, and that was challenging in and of itself."

Season 10 was unable to air its finale due to the pandemic shutdown, but AMC is rolling it out later this year as a special televised event.