Richonne is coming back to TWD Universe in 2023 and not only is The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira executive producing the Rick and Michonne spin-off series, she will also serve as co-creator and co-writer alongside Scott M. Gimple. Gimple will serve as showrunner for the series.
Originally developed for the big screen as a Walking Dead trilogy, the spin-off series will reunite Gurira with long-time The Walking Dead co-star Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes.
The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira was recently featured on SELF where she was revealed as the co-creator of the Rick & Michonne series with showrunner and executive producer Gimple — AMC’s The Walking Dead Universe chief creative officer. Gurira is working “in high gear” on the “epic love story tale” that the actor calls “prestige miniseries.”
“She challenges me, I challenge her, and neither one of us lets the other off the hook,” Gimple told SELF. “In life, I’m more a character actor; Danai is a lead. When we’re working, when we’re pitching, when we’re just dealing with life stuff—it’s a good combo.” Gimple added of the “incredibly creatively ambitious” Gurira: “[Danai] wants to do new, signature work—stuff that isn’t out there currently. She doesn’t want to settle in any way. It’s the best creative energy to be around.”
Writing is nothing new for The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira. She is an award-winning playwright. Gurira and her Black Panther co-star Lupito Nyong’o were developing Americanah — an adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel of the same name. Unfortunately, the 10-episode limited series for HBO Max did not move forward due to pandemic delays and the two Black Panther co-stars were forced to stop the project in 2020.
AMC previously confirmed Gurira and Lincoln would both be involved creatively with the Richonne series as executive producers. After the still-untitled spin-off series was announced at San Diego Comic-Con, AMC Networks released a statement saying Gurira and Lincoln “have been actively involved in conceiving the creative and the continuation of their characters’ story.”
The Rick and Michonne series starts shooting early next year with a projected debut sometime in 2023 on AMC and AMC+.
For now, you can watch The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which premieres November 11, 2022.
