Co-creator of The Walking Dead Robert Kirkman has more or less confirmed star Andrew Lincoln, aka Rick Grimes, will be leaving the show in the upcoming ninth season.
It's been over a month since news emerged the main man in the show would be departing and Kirkman, also an executive producer on the series, finally broke his silence on the matter.
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When asked by IMDb if Season 9 would see the end of Rick's tenure, he said, "It's looking that way."
"It does make the differences between the comic and the show more pronounced," Kirkman continued,.However, the show has often deviated from the comics, with Rick's son Carl (Chandler Riggs) also being killed off in Season 8, despite both of them being alive in the books at present.
Lincoln reportedly got tired of being away from his family, which led to his desire to leave the series. "But at the end of the day, it's all about Andrew Lincoln. This is a human being. This is someone I have known for almost a decade, somebody that I love. He's been sweating in Georgia, away from his family, for so long," Kirkman added.
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It remains to be seen if he'll leave the storyline aka be phased out, or be killed off, but Kirkman admitted everyone, especially Lincoln, wants to do the character justice in his finale.
"He cares about the fans," Kirkman said about the lead. "He cares about the show deeply. He wants to do something special on the way out. We have something amazing planned. I wouldn't want to spoil anything, but anybody who has been a fan of his journey, who loves Rick Grimes, who loves the world of The Walking Dead, you're going to want to see what we do."