The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live says Rick and Michonne's potential reunion is inspired by "sweeping historical dramas"

It's been six years since Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes left The Walking Dead – barring an appearance in the finale of the flagship show back in 2022. 

Upcoming spin-off The Ones Who Live, though, promises to pick up on the epic love story of Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira), AKA Richonne. The duo haven't seen each other in some time, since Rick was forced to blow up the bridge he was standing on as he was getting swarmed by Walkers. 

What both of them end up having to do to find one another again is a big question that hovers over The Ones Who Live. And after years of trauma, are Rick and Michonne the same people they were six years ago, before the bridge explosion?

"If they find each other, can they find each other?" showrunner Scott Gimple asks SFX magazine in the new issue, which features Dune 2 on the cover. "When we talked about them, I thought about sweeping historical dramas with war, and stories told over years where the world comes between people. It affects them and it doesn't make it easy."

That sounds pretty dramatic for our favorite star-crossed, Walker-slaying lovers – we'll just have to wait and see if they do manage to find each other again. 

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The Ones Who Live will consist of six episodes and is arriving on AMC beginning this February 25. For more, check out our guide to the most exciting new TV shows on the way this year.

The above is just a snippet of our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Dune: Part Two on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, February 21. For even more from SFX, sign up to our newsletter, which delivers all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.