While The Walking Dead fans are still up in arms about the impending demise of Carl Grimes in season eight, the creative team behind the show are already looking ahead to life without Carl's dad Rick.

Current showrunner Scott M Gimple has been in hot water with the show's loyal audience for making the controversial choice to write out original cast member Chandler Riggs, following Carl's gruesome encounter with a walker.

However, this might only be a taste of a bigger change to come, because Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has already started thinking about what the show will look like when Rick actor Andrew Lincoln eventually leaves too.

AMC

According to NME, Kirkman had a surprisingly definitive answer when asked on the recent 2018 Walker Stalker Cruise if the show would ultimately depict Rick's death on-screen.

"Yeah, of course," he answered.

Kirkman even had some ideas about which character could replace Rick as The Walking Dead's central figure, telling fans: "Maybe it's a character that hasn't been introduced yet. Maybe it'll be [Rick's daughter] Judith, who knows."

While the idea of a baby becoming central to the show is potentially a head-scratcher, keep in mind that there will be a time jump later in season 8 to explain those Old Man Rick trailer scenes.

Fox AMC

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan has also previously said that he'd like to keep The Walking Dead going for as long as "50 years", so the forward planning does make some degree of sense.

The Walking Dead is due to return for the second half of its eighth season on Sunday, February 25 in the US on AMC. It'll be back on Monday, February 26 in the UK on FOX UK and NOW TV.

Watch a trailer below:

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