Rick Grimes' Movie Setup: TWD Reveals 8 Details In World Beyond Finale
The Walking Dead: World Beyond's finale provides ample setup for Rick Grimes' forthcoming movie - here's every detail revealed about Andrew Lincoln's big screen return. When Andrew Lincoln departed The Walking Dead in season 9, rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated. The mighty Rick Grimes - gravely injured after an especially bad day at the office - was whisked away alongside Jadis in a Civic Republic Military helicopter and hasn't been spotted since. AMC confirmed Rick would return in a future Walking Dead movie, but 3 years down the track, virtually nothing has been revealed about Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse story on the big screen.
The Walking Dead seasons 10 & 11 have done precious little to foreshadow Rick Grimes' return (with the exception of Michonne's final episode), and Fear The Walking Dead remains confined within its post-apocalyptic bubble. Instead, AMC's teen-based spinoff has been doing the heavy lifting to set up Rick's movie. Walking Dead: World Beyond has dropped vital details about the CRM - their history, intentions and leadership - and made direct references to Rick's fate after leaving the main show. And with World Beyond's protagonists valiantly rebelling against the evil CRM, their goals almost certainly match Rick's, wherever he may be.
Walking Dead: World Beyond's finale does even more to set up Rick Grimes' future, both in the actual episode, and the game-changing post-credits sequence. Here are all the possible Rick movie details that can be gleaned from the final episode of Walking Dead: World Beyond.
Since it was the CRM who stole Rick Grimes from Alexandria, logic dictates the soldiers in black shall return for his movie adventure. We know Rick was taken to a Civic Republic facility, and can assume he'd be less than delighted about their genocidal activities. Furthermore, The Walking Dead season 9 proved Rick was on the run, but for some reason hadn't yet returned home to his family and friends - all of which suggests Andrew Lincoln's character is focused on stopping the CRM in his upcoming film.
Walking Dead: World Beyond's final episode heavily leans into that theory. While the Bennett family and their allies thwart the attack on Portland, the CRM emerges stronger than ever when World Beyond comes to an end. Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek takes the fall, and Jadis exploits her mentor's failure to ascend the military ladder, cosying up alongside Major General Beale, who still hasn't made an on-screen appearance, despite being mentioned at least once per episode in season 2. From the newspaper article in episode 5, we also know the CRM is plotting a power grab against the Civic Republic's elected council, which hasn't yet played out on TV.
This gives Rick Grimes' Walking Dead movie plenty of room to expand upon the CRM. The villains aren't going away anytime soon, and the events of World Beyond were likely just a prelude to a larger, more sinister scheme.
For Walking Dead fans who aren't super-familiar with World Beyond's plot, it's vital the Rick Grimes movie explains what happened to Jadis, since she was the only figure from the main show joining Andrew Lincoln on that fateful helicopter. Though Pollyanna McIntosh (0r, indeed, anyone other than Andrew Lincoln) is yet to be confirmed for The Walking Dead's Rick flick, World Beyond leaves the door for her return not just ajar, but swinging wide open. By betraying Elizabeth, Jadis gets a promotion up the CRM ranks, indicating her story isn't over. It's also Jadis who repeatedly references Rick in World Beyond, making her the all-important bridge between AMC's small and big screen.
A huge question mark hangs over whether Jadis will appear as a villain in The Walking Dead's movie, or whether she's secretly in league with Rick Grimes. Killing Dr. Belshaw and Huck - not to mention having a hand in the destruction of Omaha and Campus Colony - should confirm Jadis is a genuine CRM convert, since Rick surely wouldn't resort to such dark arts, even for the "greater good." On the other hand, Jadis has made one bad decision after another as a CRM warrant officer, and her judgement is openly questioned by a junior recruit in World Beyond's finale. Is she an undercover mole feeding information back to her old friend?
A brief teaser for Rick Grimes' The Walking Dead movie (the only one released in 3 years) hinted toward Philadelphia as a potential location. If the final moments of World Beyond are anything to go by, however, Portland could feature prominently too. After the Bennett sisters help spare Portland the same fate as Omaha and Campus Colony, Iris resolves to trek there and spill the beans about every crime the CRM has committed. Iris' story ends just as her group arrive at the edge of Portland, neglecting to explore what comes next.
Portland presumably turns on the Civic Republic, but since the CRM is renowned for holding a grudge, there's unfinished business between settlements. Approximately half the size of its enemy, Portland wouldn't stand a chance against Major General Beale's army... but what if they had help? Portland may find a like-minded ally in Rick Grimes, and forge a partnership to bring the bad guys down. If the community doesn't physically appear during The Walking Dead's cinematic endeavors, Rick's movie must still address Portland's fate following Iris' arrival. Maybe the CRM destroys the community off-screen, and this proves the final straw that forces Rick to act.
Across both seasons, The Walking Dead: World Beyond has steadily uncovered a cure for the zombie apocalypse. In season 1, Hope used her scientific genius to home-brew alcohol, then in World Beyond season 2, she applied that knowledge to her father's fungi theory, hitting upon a biological weapon against the undead. In the spinoff's closing montage, Hope and the other escaped CRM scientists test their prototype yeast weapon on a captured zombie subject, and watch with delight as the results exceed expectations. Hope Bennett has helped create a fungus that causes zombies to decay rapidly, taking a tentative first step toward ridding the world of reanimated corpses.
Walking Dead: World Beyond's mushroom weapon needs pay off, and Rick Grimes' movie is the most likely outlet. Rick can make contact with Hope's scientists and hand them the resources needed to increase production and distribution of the fungi solution. Or, having encountered the CRM previously, perhaps Rick realizes the value of Hope's work and fights to keep her scientists out of the CRM's clutches, ensuring the entire world can benefit from The Walking Dead's zombie cure.
Rick Grimes could encounter Hope via the ex-CRM scientists, or Iris while visiting Portland, but standing a greater chance of a big screen return is Hal Cumpston's Silas. Walking Dead: World Beyond dedicates a suspicious amount of screen time to Silas' ending - first with Dennis' sacrifice, and then by having Jadis adopt him as her personal pet project. Silas' final scene shows him clad in full CRM soldier uniform, but he's entering their ranks under false pretenses, secretly scheming to betray his unscrupulous employers when the opportunity arises. Mirroring the endings of both Bennett sisters, Silas' final scene feels like the prelude to a bigger story involving the CRM, and (also similar to the Bennett sisters) Rick's movie provides the most natural continuation point.
As a CRM sleeper agent, Silas would prove invaluable to any Rick Grimes revolution, either by spilling military secrets, or rousing disquiet among soldiers. The teenager's connection to Jadis makes a future movie credit more likely, especially if the former Junkyard leader has secretly been working for Rick. Allowing Silas - a known associate of the pesky Bennett family - to serve as a CRM soldier is a strange and risk-laden move on Jadis' part, but if she's already a double-agent colluding with Rick, it would pay to have an assistant who shares her true allegiance.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond's post-credits sequence shockingly answers a question audiences have asked since 2010 - how did the zombie virus begin. The finale's closing scene shows an unidentified survivor accusing a French scientist and her colleagues of starting the outbreak, while her lab has been adorned with graffiti that translates to "the dead are born here." While World Beyond's finale post-credits takes place in Europe, the female scientist curiously reveals other members of her team were in Ohio when the world turned. Assuming some of these "Primrose team" biologists are still alive in The Walking Dead's present day timeline, Rick Grimes could feasibly encounter them on the big screen.
There's obviously a reason World Beyond's post-credits references Ohio, meaning the mystery scientists are bound to show up on-screen sooner or later - potentially as a key plot thread of Rick's upcoming movie. Maybe Rick must take the scientists somewhere their apocalypse-solving research can continue (similar to Eugene, but for real this time), or perhaps the CRM has Primrose team locked up and Rick's movie mission is to liberate them.
Setting Walking Dead: World Beyond's post-credits sequence in France could signal a global future for AMCs franchise. Though all 3 Walking Dead shows have remained inside U.S. borders (Fear The Walking Dead's brief sojourn into Mexico aside), World Beyond proves the zombie virus' origins and evolution lay elsewhere. Whenever producers have addressed Rick's movie delay, they've blamed the extra time on ensuring Walking Dead's debut film feels suitably epic, and increases the scale compared to AMC's TV output. That philosophy, combined with the revelations from World Beyond's finale, strongly implies Rick Grimes' future isn't restricted to American soil.
With zombies infesting every corner of the world, travel is hardly straightforward... but visiting other countries isn't impossible. The CRM has established long-range helicopter travel, and with a pilot and the correct fuel, it'd be possible to charter a plane from the U.S. East Coast to France and back. The Walking Dead season 9 might've even hinted Rick was planning to traverse the globe, as not only were his belongings discovered on an abandoned boat, but he'd made an engraving written in Japanese.
The one advantage survivors enjoy in The Walking Dead is speed. Even when vastly outnumbered, most characters can outrun or outmaneuver undead corpses, sometimes even exploiting their lumbering nature to manipulate a horde's heading. Walking Dead: World Beyond's finale post-credits introduces zombies that are both faster and smarter than the franchise's typical monsters. The exciting debut of "runners" in The Walking Dead is a big deal, and these zombie variants are certain to plague future projects. Fear The Walking Dead and the upcoming Daryl & Carol spinoff are both heavily rooted in the U.S. (where these evolved zombies haven't yet become common), and that means the honor of facing fast zombies will seemingly be reserved for Rick Grimes on the big screen.
Walking Dead: World Beyond's final moments suggest variants are the dominant strain in Europe, meaning Rick will inevitably encounter some if he does travel across the Atlantic. Alternatively, the upgraded virus could find its way to American shores, completely transforming The Walking Dead's zombie rule book, and shaking up AMC's shared universe as the undead finally get their running shoes on. Quicker zombies could absolutely help Rick Grimes' The Walking Dead movie stand out from the TV series.