Breaking Bad Creator Finally Confirms Walter White’s Fate

When Breaking Bad ended six years ago, the final shot of the series finale left the fate of the show’s lead character, Walter White, hanging in the balance. Well, sort of. The series finale made it seem like Walt was finally meeting his maker, but the camera cut to black before anything definitive could be determined. And that’s where creator Vince Gilligan left things for the character. Every time he’s been asked in the years since, Gilligan has been coy about Walt’s final moment, but that’s finally changing.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is being released on Netflix this Friday, telling the continuation of Jess Pinkman’s story after the conclusion of Breaking Bad. There were already a multitude of theories about Walt’s fate, suggesting that he somehow survived the events of the finale. The release of a feature-length Breaking Bad movie only seemed to ignite those theories. A ton of Breaking Bad fans believe that Walt is somehow still alive. However, for the first time, Gilligan is making it clear that Bryan Cranston’s award-winning character is most definitely dead.

Gilligan appeared on The Rich Eisen Show on Monday to promote the upcoming release of El Camino and the host once again asked the question of Walt’s survival. This time, Gilligan actually gave an answer.

“Yeah, I’m going to give you that one, Rich, because I love you so much,” Gilligan said on the show. “Yes, Walter White is dead. Yes.”

Walter’s life ended in the series finale of Breaking Bad, but that doesn’t mean that Cranston won’t appear alongside long-time co-star Aaron Paul in El Camino. Actor Jonathan Banks revealed last month that he would be reprising the role of Mike Ehrmantraut in the Breaking Bad movie. Considering Mike was killed by Walter in the final season of Breaking Bad, and his death occurred on-screen, the only way for him to appear in El Camino would be in some sort of flashback. If flashbacks are going to play a major part in the new film there’s no reason Walt couldn’t show up at some point.

El Camino will pick up right after the events of the Breaking Bad finale and follows Jesse Pinkman’s return to his old life. Paul is once again taking on the role of Pinkman, which earned him three Primetime Emmy Awards over the course of five seasons. Also confirmed to return for the movie are Matt Jones and Charles Baker.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie arrives on Netflix this Friday.