Walking Dead Star Lennie James on Possible Morgan and Rick Grimes Reunion (Exclusive)

By Cameron Bonomolo

Rick Grimes was right. "You can hide, but you can't run," Rick (Andrew Lincoln) told Morgan Jones (Lennie James) when the latter crossed over from The Walking Dead to Fear the Walking Dead. "You'll end up with people one way or another. You're connected." Morgan ran away from his people back at Alexandria after all out war with the Saviors in season 8, but as Rick reminded him: "You're a part of the world already. You'll find your way back to it, 'cause it will find its way back to you. So just come back." 

But Morgan didn't come back. He ran all the way to Fear the Walking Dead, where he remained until Sunday's "All I See Is Red" midseason finale. James exited the series after five seasons on The Walking Dead spin-off that will conclude when its final six episodes air this fall.

In the end, Morgan's final episode of Fear brought him full circle to where Rick left him on The Walking Dead pilot episode: with his child (Zoey Merchant) by his side and walkie-talkie in hand, with a promise to reach Rick over the radio every day at dawn. "This message is for Rick Grimes. It's Morgan Jones. Man, I'm gonna come and look for you, whether you're at Alexandria or not," Morgan said. "I will leave this message every morning at dawn, and I'll leave the walkie on for a few minutes after. Who knows? Maybe you might even be listening." 

After laying Grace (Karen David) to rest in the graveyard where he buried his mentor Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) years earlier on The Walking Dead, Morgan and Mo left Fear the Walking Dead to find Rick Grimes. But with James confirming his exit from the Walking Dead Universe, will Morgan and Rick reunite?

"In all honesty, every and anything is possible. And I know it's something that a certain percentage of our fans would like," James told ComicBook in our exclusive postmortem Q&A. "I would show up to work with Andy again any time. But anybody who knows me knows I'm fiercely protective of Morgan's story. And as far as I'm concerned, at this particular moment in time, this is the end of the road for Morgan. You'll only see him again if a story comes up within the universe that is just too good to say no to."

Lincoln recently wrapped filming on six episodes of The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne, the spin-off reuniting long-lost lovers Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) in 2024 on AMC and AMC+. While there's no indication that James also filmed for that series, the new show hails from TWDU chief content officer and showrunner Scott Gimple, who wrote such seminal Morgan-centric episodes as "Clear," "Here's Not Here," and "Bury Me Here." And the door is certainly open for James to return should the right story call for more Morgan. 

Asked what Morgan and Mo's future might look like, James said, "I think on one level, as he did before, he's walking into the unknown. He doesn't know, should he come across Rick again, should he bump into Rick again, what state that he's going to be in. What has happened to him over the years that they haven't been in contact?"

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James continued: "He's also walking now with extra responsibility, but he's also walking now as a man who has buried, literally buried, a lot of the ghosts and pressures that were haunting him. And he's hopefully put them to rest. So wherever he ends up, one of the things I liked about this final chapter for Morgan is that ... it is like a reverse of how we started in Fear the Walking Dead. But he's certainly walking away a better man than he arrived."

Fear the Walking Dead season 8 returns with its final episodes this fall. The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne is slated to premiere in 2024 on AMC and AMC+.

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