Though The Walking Dead is losing a core character when it returns, the showrunner promises iconic stories from the comic books won't be left out.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 8x08, How It's Gotta Be, follow.

"We're committed to keep telling the story from the comic book," The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple told EW. It's a statement assuring fans that even though Carl Grimes will no longer be a part of the AMC series, his important relationships and moments from Robert Kirkman's comics will be realized in some form on television.

"Yes, it's going to be different," Gimple goes on. "And yes, Negan's relationship to Carl was a big part of the story moving forward, especially in the world changes we see early on. But, as usual, we do plan on telling those comic stories."

It's not the first time the AMC series has deviated from Skybound and Image Comics' original stories. In fact, Andrea was killed significantly earlier than her comic book counterpart, who ended up finding love with Rick Grimes before succumbing to a walker bite in a recent issue.

"It just will have to be with different people and it's a different way to tell those same stories," Gimple said. "But we hope to still fulfill what those stories do."

Gimple also claims to have an answer for the element of The Walking Dead comics which seems to be pointing toward Rick passing the leadership torch to his son. "It still can happen, just in a different way," Gimple said. "We haven’t seen it in the books yet. Robert [Kirkman] hasn’t written it yet, but we’re still going to try to do right by Robert’s story."

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth season on February 25, 2018. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.