‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8 Spoilers: Rick Grimes’ Imminent Death Hinted by Robert Kirkman’s New Comic Book Cover; EP Teases “Satisfying” Action

‘The Walking Dead’ season 8 may feature Rick Grimes’ death as hinted by Robert Kirkman’s new comic book cover. Executive producer Denise Huth also teased that the upcoming season will be satisfying and action-packed.

According to Express, the new cover for Robert Kirkman’s comic book series which served as a basis for AMC’s popular post-apocalyptic horror television series has fueled more speculations on Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) imminent death. Although it seems like the series couldn’t hold up without the Alexandrian leader, the main protagonist isn’t exempted from being killed off the series.

Issue #170’s cover, titled “On The Road,” shows Eugene, Michonne, Siddiq, and Magna are seen leaving Alexandria. Rick and the other members of their community were nowhere to be found. It seems that the four are armed and prepared to fight off Negan and the Saviors.

Showrunner Scott Gimple previously teased that Lincoln’s Rick may meet his demise eventually in the upcoming season. Gimple said, “[Rick] will suffer any loss, even his own self to give his people and other people the life that they should live, where the world belongs to all of them and not just one person. A real life… That’s the only choice. So he’s willing to face the losses.”

According to Comicbook.com, Kirkman himself promised that he would kill off Rick eventually. In the recent issue, Rick confessed to his wife Andrea while she was on her deathbed that he wouldn’t be able to continue to live in the post-apocalyptic world without her.

Meanwhile, co-executive producer Denise Huth revealed that season 8 will be as action-packed as ever. Huth said, “It’s a ton of action… It’s super exciting. It think it will be really, really satisfying… As a fan of the show - and I am a fan of the show - when I read it, it was like ‘Awww, I can’t wait! It’s going to be great! It’s worth the wait to get to this moment.”

Huth also explained members of the cast have been hard at work to bring the “war” storyline to life. She teased, “These episodes coming in are huge… It’s a lot of work. It’s just as hard as it’s ever been, if not harder… There’s just a sense of excitement because the characters aren’t in that dark, down place.”

‘The Walking Dead’ season 8 was announced last October 2016, just prior to season 7’s premiere. It is expected to return to AMC sometime in late 2017.