The Walking Dead series finale will be very similar to that in the comic books of which the television show is based. However, chief content officer Scott M. Gimple has also revealed there will be key differences in the ending of the long-running series, the finale episode of which will air November 20.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gimple has revealed that The Walking Dead ending will be simultaneously similar and different to the ending of the comic book. “It’s like a remix. Some things simply have to remix, which I think is awesome, because I loved the end of the comic, but we get to see another version of it, because we have to,” Gimple, who will be showrunner of the spin-off featuring Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne Grimes (Danai Gurira), said. The chief content officer revealed the spirit of the original story written by Robert Kirkman will be retained in the ending, but fans of the show will see it play out differently. “It still takes Robert Kirkman’s really cool story and tells his story, but in a very different way and with a different ending. It’s like the same, but different.”
Gimple has revealed that one of the key differences between the television series’ ending and the comic books that fans can expect is the number of cast who make it to the finale. “I think the cast of main characters on the show might even be a little bigger than how the comic ended,” he said, explaining that in order for the long-running series to wrap up satisfactorily, each of the surviving characters needed their own endings. “All of those characters have endings,” he said. “It’s a very intense last few episodes. Up until the finale, it is just full intensity. The throttle is open.” Gimple has also promised doing this will ensure the main series will wrap up properly, with the assortment of stand-alone spin-offs planned to premier in 2023. “It ends with a really definitive conclusion for both the series and then each individual character.”
The changes in the characters’ stories throughout the eleven seasons, particularly Rick and Carl’s, has meant the comic book ending cannot be fulfilled in the exact same way. The comic book ends with Rick’s son, Carl Grimes (played by Chandler Riggs) reading a bedtime story to his daughter, Andrea, in a safer world set approximately twenty years after the series’ events. “People are happy instead of sad, and safe instead of scared, and nice instead of mean,” Carl reads from the book, telling Andrea about her grandfather. “All because someone was strong enough to do what was right. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing… you’re there and you’re safe because of Rick Grimes.” Unfortunately, in the television adaptation, this emotional scene can not be recreated as Carl was killed in Season 8, as was his future comic-book wife, Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz), in Season 2 (who coincidentally is shot by Rick in the series). It is also unlikely that Rick’s grandchild would be named Andrea, as the series had her namesake (Laurie Holden) die in Season 4 whilst Rick instead became romantically involved with Michonne.
The ending is also unable to take place in exactly the same manner as the comics given Rick’s survival in the series. In the comic books, Rick is killed by Sebastian Milton (played by Teo Rapp-Olsson). However, in Season 9, we see the CRM helicopter Rick to safety whilst Sebastian, who ought to spend the rest of his life in prison, killed in a more recent episode. With Rick still very much alive, it is theoretical he could return to read to his adopted daughter’s child (Judith Grimes, played by Cailey Fleming in Seasons 9–11), who unlike the comic-book version who is killed as an infant, has survived in the series. Who replaces Carl, if the scene is to take place in the finale, will be revealed when the series finale airs Sunday, November 20.
The Walking Dead is currently airing on AMC. Check out the interview below where the cast of Tales of the Walking Dead reveals details about the anthology series.