After 12 years, The Walking Dead has seen many people come and go but throughout it all one person who has been there from the start and seen it through to the bitter end is Norman Reedus. Along with Melissa McBride, Reedus is the only original cast member to have survived all 11 seasons, so it is not surprising that it fell to the actor to make a heartfelt speech to the cast and crew following filming of the last ever scene on the hit horror series.
“This is so surreal,” Reedus began in the clip shared by TMZ. “Somebody taught me a quote recently, and it's, 'Is the juice worth the squeeze?' The Walking Dead juice has always been worth the squeeze, as perverted as it sounds. It’s truly been an honor.”
As Reedus spoke, McBridge is seen hugging director Greg Nicotero, who gave his own words on how blessed he feels to have been part of the production. While it is clearly an emotional time for those who have been a part of The Walking Dead story for so long, we should remember that there is a spin-off series in development starring both Reedus and McBride as their respective characters of Daryl and Carol, so it won’t be too long before we see the pair back in the zombie-infested world again.
A few days ago, Reedus was seen in a video with Nicotero as it was announced that the series had wrapped. Appearing emotional and overwhelmed Nicotero said in his Instagram post, “Here we are, the last day. 12 years. You remember we were babies when we started this show, with short hair?. It’s hard, but 12 hours from now the world’s going to be a different place.” Reedus added, “Thank you for everything, it’s been a real joy. I think my brain is short circuiting now, I can’t even get my head around it.”
The Walking Dead Will Be Back With Numerous Spinoffs Starting This Summer
For those who still cannot get enough of The Walking Dead there is no need to fear as there will be more to come from Robert Kirkman’s universe, including the Tales of the Walking Dead this summer which will take individual stories set in and around the franchise and see the return of some familiar faces in the process.
Recently it was reported that Samantha Morton will be back to reprise her role as Alpha in an episode of the new series. For those who have stuck with the flagship show, they will not need to be reminded that Alpha was the leader of The Whisperers, a group who came up against Daryl and the rest of his group of survivors, who was finally killed by Negan in Season 10. Her return to the show for Tales of the Walking Dead gives a good example of the expansion stories that will be told in the series.
Additionally, we know that there will be at least two other spin-offs with the Carol and Daryl series and Isle of The Dead, featuring Negan and Maggie, to come in the near future. However, the biggest question around the next stages of The Walking Dead still revolve around if we will ever get to see the Rick Grimes movie, or movies, that have been promised for so long. As of now, there is still no guarantee of that ever happening.