Five Comic Book Moments Coming In The Walking Dead Season 8

We’re over six months out from a new episode of AMC‘s The Walking Dead.

Still, it’s never too soon to start looking ahead to Season 8 and trying to figure out what’s next for Rick Grimes and his merry band of survivors from Alexandria. With Season 7 ending on a note which saw his group unite with the Hilltop and Kingdom communities for a rise against Negan and his villainous Saviors, the war is finally upon us.

When Season 8 kicks off, Rick will lead the charge against Negan’s oppression as the communities rally to take down the menace who killed Abraham and Glenn.

On the following slides, we run through five major moments from The Walking Dead comics which will likely be realized in Season 8 of the AMC series. Needless to say, spoilers follow!

Losing A Leg

When the war is in full swing, count on one of the good guys losing a leg — but surviving.

In Robert Kirkman’s comics, Heath has his leg blown off by an explosion in issue #120. Still alive in the most recent issues, Heath has been walking around like TV’s Hershel Greene ever since the war.

Heath is missing in action on the AMC series at the moment. There is no reason to believe the character will return any time soon or ever. Corey Hawkins nabbed the leading role on Fox’s new 24 series and the character of Heath never became important enough to warrant a meaningful reappearance.

As for who will lose their leg on the AMC series in Heath’s place, Aaron feels like a possibility, as his role has been beefed up in recent episodes.

Gregory’s Betrayal

Eventually, Rick leads a charge on Negan’s Sanctuary with a complete army at his side. The communities are ready for a real fight at Negan’s doorstep.

However, when the fight is about to begin, Negan emerges with the Hilltop’s cowardly leader Gregory by his side. Gregory already warned Negan of the attack and says, “The Hilltop stands with Negan and the Saviors!” A couple of Hilltoppers leave Rick’s army but the majority stand with Rick.

This does, however, make the fight more difficult than anticipated as Negan was able to prepare for it.

With Gregory having set out for the Sanctuary with Cal to close out Season 7, it appears the moment from the comics will be realized on television when the AMC series returns for its eighth batch of episodes.

Rick v. Negan

The war will likely come to an end before Season 8 does. This doesn’t mean Negan will die, though. 

When the war finally reaches its final battle, Rick and Negan have a showdown before their armies. Rick gets the advantage and sees an opportunity to kill Negan. However, instead of ending the villain’s life, Rick merely nicks Negan’s neck with a knife and elects to toss him in jail.

The fight, however, does have some major impacts on Rick. Negan manages to break Rick’s leg during their scuffle, prompting Rick to walk with a cane for the rest of the comic book series to date. Still, a beared, one-handed, limping Rick is not a man anybody really wants to mess with.

Carzekiel

By this point in the comics, a certain female character in the comics has stressed her desire to stop fighting. She wants to be isolated, if necessary, and not open up to those around her because it will result in being surrounded by killing and death. Still, she manages to find some comfort in spending time with King Ezekiel and ultimately helps the group take on Negan and the Saviors.

By comparison to television, this character is absolutely Carol Pelettier, who was dead by this point in the comics. However, in the books, the role is filled out by Michonne.

Given the characters swapping roles around on television, it’s a safe bet that Carol and Ezekiel will begin to develop a deeper relationship in the coming episodes. This would put a bit of a damper on the Carol/Daryl camp, so Scott Gimple’s approach to any potential love interest for Carol will be a delicate one.

The Whisperers

Depending on how quickly the war with Negan moves, the possibility of the AMC series setting up its next villains might arise. Like the Wolves, the Whisperers might be teased ahead of their true arrival.

In the comics, the Whisperers are a group of barbaric humans living on the outskirts of Alexandria, covered in zombie guts and flesh, walking among the dead and keeping their voices at or below a whisper in an effort to blend in. Their first appearance of the Whisperers came in issue #130 which is four issues after the last part of the All Out War story. 

Given their first appearance comes after the major time jump, it would seem unlikely the Whisperers would have any involvement in Negan and Rick’s war.