The Walking Dead’s Rick And Michonne Show Is Actually Written And Co-Created By Danai Gurira

Well here’s a development I’d consider promising about the upcoming Rick and Michonne spin-off headed to AMC after The Walking Dead ends. It turns out Michonne herself, Danai Gurira, is actually writing the show (at least in part) and is being credited as a co-creator of the series, which she developed directly with Walking Dead overlord Scott Gimple.

It’s also been revealed that in addition to being an “epic love story tale” this is being described by Gurira as a “prestige miniseries.” Meaning however many episodes there are, this is the end, this is not meant to be an ongoing adventure. Gimple talks about working with Gurira on the show to bring the story to “a full realized ending.”

So far, the other two main spin-offs are not being described as miniseries, Negan and Maggie’s Dead City, nor Daryl’s spin-off in France. They could be, and The Walking Dead has already greenlit one dedicated miniseries in the form of The World Beyond, but it’s news to me that’s what they were planning to do with Rick, and that Michonne herself would be scripting the tale. It’s a very, very interesting development, as we’ve gone from an alleged series of theatrical Rick Grimes movies that may guest star Michonne, to now this miniseries instead starring both of them with Gurira being a major creative force behind it.

Gurira has been one of the busiest cast members of The Walking Dead when she was both on and off the show. She rose to mainstream prominence with her role as Okoye in Black Panther, and now she will return this November for Wakanda Forever. It’s possible that this Rick and Michonne series only came about because the show that Danai Gurira was supposed to run for HBO, Americah, was cancelled before it ever got made because its star, Lupita Nyong’o, couldn’t do it because of scheduling conflicts. But clearly Gurira was ready to take charge of a series, and this new TWD show is allowing her to do just that to a certain extent.

I really do hope this is going to be more than a six episode miniseries wrapping up Rick and Michonne’s arc. The World Beyond ran for two seasons of 10 episodes, a pre-determined length for its short tale, but it wasn’t that short at least. So I’m hoping we’ll get at least that. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea to have firm endings for some of these spin-offs, and yet knowing this is going to happen, we’re going to have to prepare to say goodbye to Rick and Michonne all over again when this does end up airing, and I’m not sure the Walking Dead fanbase is ready for that.

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