The Walking Dead may be delivering the story they promised 5 years ago after Rick and Michonne’s spinoff trailer revealed details of the project.
Summary
- The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff delivers on a promise made five years ago, and the trailer offers a glimpse into the upcoming plot, creating intrigue.
- The spinoff series featuring Rick and Michonne resembles a Walking Dead movie, with big-budget action scenes and concise-looking stories that are befitting of the big screen.
- The decision to have a Rick and Michonne show instead of a movie is the right choice, allowing both characters their own stories and creating the potential for a reunion. Smaller seasons benefit the franchise, as seen in previous spinoffs, improving the quality and focus of the storytelling.
The Ones Who Live seems to finally be delivering on a story The Walking Dead promised five years ago, as Rick and Michonne’s spinoff trailer offers a glimpse into what can be expected from the project. Naturally, the trailer teased some of the upcoming plot, while maintaining enough mystery to keep the new show intriguing. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live‘s release date is scheduled for February 25, 2024, meaning the wait won’t be long until Rick and Michonne return to The Walking Dead universe. Not only will their return bring excitement, but it will also seemingly deliver on a five-year-old promise.
Over the years, the franchise has undergone many changes. Andrew Lincoln’s The Walking Dead exit meant Rick Grimes was written out of the show in 2018, although he wasn’t killed off. Chandler Riggs’ Carl was killed the season before, while Maggie (Lauren Cohan) temporarily left the series in season 9 and Michonne (Danai Gurira) left in season 10. All these departures meant reimagining the show’s future, which included scrapping some major ideas. There were initially plans for The Walking Dead season 12, but this was axed in favor of spinoffs. During the reshuffle, the franchise bailed out of a massive project but may make up for it through the upcoming spinoff.
Rick & Michonne’s Spinoff Looks Like A Walking Dead Movie
After announcing a trilogy of Rick Grimes films over five years ago, The Walking Dead looks close to delivering on their promise, with Rick & Michonne’s spinoff resembling a Walking Dead movie. Despite Rick’s return being in TV format as opposed to a film, many elements of The Ones Who Live look like a movie. The big-budget action scenes and more concise-looking stories in Rick and Michonne’s series are befitting of the big screen. It appears the show will be split into weekly, one-hour episodes, but it is the closest thing to a film that the franchise is likely to release.
A Rick and Michonne show is a better choice than a movie. The proposed movie trilogy was supposedly only going to focus on Rick, meaning there would be no natural return route for Gurira’s character. Allowing both Rick and Michonne their own stories as they make their way back to The Walking Dead universe is the right decision, especially if their stories overlap. The trailer seems to suggest both characters’ journeys will be outlined separately, but perhaps crossover at the end, potentially resulting in their reunion. This story mixed with the expensive-looking, high-quality nature of the show seems to be finally delivering on the movies that were promised five years ago.
Rick Grimes’ Walking Dead Spinoff Sets Up The Return Of A Season 1 Villain
With Rick Grimes finally set to return to The Walking Dead, his spinoff presents the chance to bring back one of the show’s earliest villains.
The Walking Dead Spinoffs Prove The Franchise Is Better With Smaller Seasons
As has been the case with the two previous spinoffs to follow the main show, The Ones Who Live will likely benefit from smaller seasons. While having a huge cast, all interacting did lead to more wholesome moments in the main show, its longer seasons also caused huge problems. Too many characters in The Walking Dead resulted in the show often dragging out storylines, focusing episodes on single sets of characters and not returning to them until weeks later. These stretched-out narratives hurt the series and led to the likes of season 11 feeling way too long with its budget and story being split across 24 episodes.
Daryl Dixon and Dead City both benefited from a shorter, more focused story. The Ones Who Live will only be six episodes, meaning it can focus its budget strategically. Both Dead City and Daryl Dixon improved their environments and backdrops, indicating that their budgets went into creating more visually appealing, six-episode shows. Rick and Michonne’s spinoff seems to have prioritized investing in action, with big helicopter scenes and zombie fights at the forefront of the trailer. Condensing the story to focus on two characters and having an improved budget looks to have The Ones Who Live on track to become a memorable project and is proof the franchise is better with smaller seasons.
