The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead, Season 11, Episode 24, "Rest In Piece."
Walking Dead star Chandler Riggs recently reacted to The Boys villain Homelander replacing his character, Carl Grimes, in a classic meme.
Riggs responded to the remixed meme on Twitter, expressing mock indignation at being "replaced." The actor added in a follow-up tweet that he found the new version, which sees Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) upset at not being allowed to copy a visibly uneasy Homelander's (Antony Starr) homework, amusing. The original meme features Rick opposite Carl, and is culled from an emotional scene in The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 4, "The Killer Within." It derives its humor from Lincoln's distinctive pronunciation of Carl's name, as well the contrast between the unbridled emotion of his performance versus Riggs' more restrained mood.
Riggs and Lincoln left The Walking Dead in Seasons 8 and 9, respectively, however, they both recently returned for the AMC post-apocalyptic horror series' last-ever episode. Of the pair's cameos, Lincoln's is the more significant, as he reprises the role of Rick, confirming the one-time deputy sheriff was indeed still alive. Riggs makes a much shorter appearance in Season 11 finale, "Rest in Piece," as an unnamed farmer only briefly shown on screen. Riggs playing a different part was a necessity, as Carl Grimes' death in Season 8, Episode 9, "Honor," ruled out the possibility of him portraying Carl again in any of the show's present-day scenes.
The Walking Dead Lives On Through Spinoffs
The Walking Dead coming to an end doesn't mean Lincoln is done with the Rick Grimes role. The English actor is set to headline the as-yet-untitled upcoming Rick and Michonne spinoff, alongside his former co-star Danai Gurira. AMC also announced several other follow-up shows prior to the finale airing, a decision that Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan remains vocally opposed to. "I just think that the stakes are raised that much higher [if you don't know about the spinoffs]," he said. "And going into a finale episode, I think the audience if they don’t know that four of your main characters or whatever it is are doing spinoffs, you know, those are four more people that may not walk away from this."
Despite his misgivings over how AMC handled the timing of the various spinoff announcements, Morgan continues to hype his own offshoot project, Dead City. He's even teased the possibility that Dead City could include guest appearances by members of the Walking Dead cast, as well as crossovers with the franchise's other spinoffs.
Source: Twitter