Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead

AMC’s The Walking Dead has never been afraid to go to some very dark places, but the original comic book ending would have featured the most shocking death in The Walking Dead franchise. When it came to the TV show’s most disturbing scenes, comic book fans often knew what was coming, with Glenn’s gruesome ending from Negan’s bat being a prime example. That said, other Walking Dead comic scenes were considered too graphic for TV, and were replaced with slightly less disturbing plotlines. The Walking Dead was often bleak, but the original ending appeared to offer no hope at all.

While The Walking Dead comic book’s original ending is no more graphic than many Walking Dead TV scenes, it would still have been one of the most shocking moments in the franchise. The original ending would have shown Rick Grimes bringing his group of survivors to Alexandria, and setting up the community, giving a powerful speech. However, the next few panels would have transitioned to show Rick as a statue, with the city overrun by zombies. This ending confirms that the zombies would have won, with Rick living long enough to be commemorated with a statue but ultimately dying too.

AMC’s The Walking Dead Franchise Can Still Adapt The Comic Book’s Scrapped Ending

The Comic Book’s Darker Ending Would Resolve A Major Complaint About The Franchise

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead Walker in the street in The Walking Dead Dead City Season 2 Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee in The Walking Dead and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in Dead City Noah (Tyler James Williams) grabbing Glenn (Steven Yeun) by the collar in The Walking Dead. Michonne and Rick are walking the woods in The Walking Dead The Ones Who Live Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead Walker in the street in The Walking Dead Dead City Season 2 Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee in The Walking Dead and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in Dead City Noah (Tyler James Williams) grabbing Glenn (Steven Yeun) by the collar in The Walking Dead. Michonne and Rick are walking the woods in The Walking Dead The Ones Who Live

While the main show has ended, there are still active TV shows and spin-offs in the Walking Dead universe, including Daryl Dixon and Dead City. Alexandria might have fallen before, but it has since been rebuilt, and even more importantly, Rick Grimes is alive. This means that there are plenty of opportunities to make the comic book’s original ending into a reality, even if it does not play out in exactly the same way as the comics. A different character could have Rick Grimes’ original Walking Dead fate, with Daryl Dixon looking like a possible candidate.

Few people knew about The Walking Dead comics’ planned ending, but Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln was one of them.

The spin-off series The Ones Who Live left Rick Grimes with his family in the CRM, which was a controversial ending for his character. Rick’s Walking Dead TV and comic book fates are vastly different, with the comic book version of Rick suffering far more than his TV counterpart. A growing complaint about the Walking Dead franchise was the way that its central characters developed thick plot armor, with Rick being seemingly invincible. Showing him to have died along with everyone else could have gone a long way to fixing this issue.

The Zombies Winning Would Be Dark, But Fitting For The Walking Dead

Why The Walking Dead Creators Chose Not To Use The Original Ending

Rick Grimes leaning against a wall in The Walking Dead The Ones Who Live next to a zombie with its mouth open in The Walking DeadCustom image by Nick Bythrow

If The Walking Dead had ended with the implication that everybody was dead soon after showing Rick’s optimistic speech, it would have been very fitting based on the show’s track record. The Walking Dead often made its fans cry, as the writers had a talent for showing extremely uplifting and optimistic moments alongside heartbreaking deaths. The planned ending would have been the ultimate example of this strategy, but as it did not happen, the episode “The Calm Before” showed this best. Siddiq tells the Kingdom about how his group fought against Alpha together, while knowing that they were doomed.

The original ending to The Walking Dead would have set a very bleak tone, which would be difficult for a spin-off to come back from. Writer and co-creator Robert Kirkman explained in The Walking Dead Deluxe #84 that The Walking Dead escaped its original ending because “I didn’t want to end the series; I was having too much fun.” The show had some epic moments and iconic characters, but the shocking twist could have been done well, and The Walking Dead‘s planned ending had the potential to be one of the most memorable TV show endings of all time.