Danai Gurira Will Write The 2023 Walking Dead Spin-Off Featuring Rick And Michonne
"The Walking Dead" is drawing to a close very soon, but much like a shambling, undead ghoul with a craving for human flesh, fans of the long-running series are very far from having seen the last of the franchise. There are multiple spin-offs reportedly in the works, chief among them is one centered on the beloved characters of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne Hawthorne (Danai Gurira).
Gurira is of course pretty busy now with the upcoming "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," so it's understandable that some fans might have been getting a little anxious about whether the promised Rick and Michonne spin-off was really going to get off the ground. Fortunately, that anxiety has turned out to be unfounded, and not only is it confirmed that the six-episode miniseries concluding the Rick and Michonne saga is on the way, but that Gurira is co-creating and writing what she refers to as an "epic love story."
The miniseries gives Gurira the opportunity to determine her own character's fate
The news comes from an interview with Danai Gurira in Self magazine, revealing that in addition to starring in the untitled Rick and Michonne spin-off of "The Walking Dead," she's also co-writing it with producer and writer Scott Gimple, with whom she's also sharing a "created by" credit on the show.
It might be rare for an actor on a TV show to have such a strong hand in the writers' room, but it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who is familiar with Gurira's work outside of "Black Panther" and "The Walking Dead." In the theater world, she is an accomplished playwright, so the transition to TV writer makes perfect sense.
During the interview, Gurira discussed the importance of her role in the eyes of the many fans of "The Walking Dead." "When you're just trying to pour out the story with truth and give full life and dimension and humanity to your characters that you know you don't have many of on screen, you don't know what it's going to do, who it's going to affect," said Gurira. "But when you connect with the fans and you see and experience how they have been touched and sometimes empowered, [the impact becomes clear]."
Collider reported that Gurira and Andrew Lincoln made a surprise appearance at a San Diego Comic-Con panel to promote the upcoming spin-off, and revealed that it's set to begin filming soon. The good news for "The Walking Dead" fans eager for closure to the story of Rick and Michonne: you don't have too much longer to wait.