‘The Walking Dead’ Boss Teases Richonne Baby

Judith Grimes could be getting a new brother or sister on The Walking Dead after parents Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) fooled around when talk turned to ways to build for the future.

The idea of Rick and Michonne having a child together "arose out of conversations we were having in the writers' room about what are the ways in which they're thinking about the future," showrunner Angela Kang told THR.

"A thing that's very true in human history is there tend to be baby booms after war. People feel they've survived something, and they want to celebrate and rebuild. This felt very true to us."

Richonne, as the coupling has been affectionately named by supporters, acts as a mirror for the series' other power couple: Carol (Melissa McBride) and King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), who have since taken their own steps towards major commitment when Carol accepted Ezekiel's marriage proposal.

"This is a couple that's been through so much together," Kang said.

"We're exploring through Carol how Ezekiel proposed marriage to her. Do Rick and Michonne do the same thing, or does the way they signal their commitment to each other as a couple look a little bit different? We wanted to see how different people would approach this situation, and this felt like it was true to them."

The decision to conceive is also driven, in part, by the loss of Rick's son Carl (Chandler Riggs), who died 19 months before the survivors began realizing the more peaceful and idyllic future first envisioned by Carl — a future Rick promised to make a reality.

"In the show's story, which is different from the comics' story, Carl is gone. That's a major part of what's keeping Rick going now," she said. Rick and Michonne deciding to truly settle and potentially procreate expresses "their commitment to each other, but also their hopefulness for the future."

"They've been able to raise Judith, and she's happy and healthy and safe in a world in which Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) once stated there's no way a baby could survive the apocalypse," she explained. "It's a signal as to where they believe they are in the progress of things."

"I think the whole point is to start again and to restart and it's about the future, and it's obviously the next generation and, as far as we can tell, we're outnumbered undead to human a lot," Lincoln told ComicBook.com. "It is about repopulating the world. I think that they make a terrific couple and I don't think [Rick] would hesitate."

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.