The Walking Dead stars react to Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira's big Comic-Con surprise

Rick Grimes and Michonne are back — and now everyone knows. But while Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira surprised The Walking Dead fans at Comic-Con 2022 by announcing a new Rick and Michonne series for AMC Networks (expected next year), it turns out their former costars were already in on the big secret.

"It was great. We knew they were coming," Norman Reedus said when he stopped by EW's Comic-Con video suite Saturday with the rest of his castmates. "[Lincoln]'s in the room right next to mine, so I had a chat with him all night before that. It's great seeing them."

Reedus' reunion with Gurira went a little differently, though. "Danai, I was sitting on my patio and I get a text and she's like, 'Is that you sitting in the dark up there in a bathrobe?'" he recalled. "And I'm like looking like, where are you? That goes on for 20 minutes, and then she walked up and screamed. So it was good to see Danai." He then joked, "Andy I don't really care about, but I really love Danai."

Todd Williamson/AMC/Shutterstock Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln at Comic-Con 2022

While the flagship series The Walking Dead is concluding this fall, the franchise's expanded universe just keeps growing. Along with the just-announced Rick and Michonne show (which will replace the trio of Rick Grimes movies announced back in 2018 when Lincoln originally left the show), there's also Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan's Manhattan-set spin-off Isle of the Dead, the anthology series Tales of the Walking Dead, and Reedus' yet-untitled Daryl spin-off.

Before Reedus jumps over to his new series, he took a moment to reflect on the past 11 seasons and saying a proper goodbye to The Walking Dead. He previously said during the show's Comic-Con panel, "I kinda just want to cry and make out with everybody in this room," and on Saturday he joked that he "made out with about half of them."

But then he got serious about the show coming to an end. "It's kind of heartbreaking, but it's also a celebration of a huge accomplishment," he said. "It hits me more, not just looking at the fans, but when I look at all these guys. I'm going to miss being in Georgia and I'm going to miss that crew. A really once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It hits me and I get a little emotional."

His costar Cailey Fleming also opened up about saying goodbye to the series she grew up on. "I'm going to miss [this cast], as much as they're crazy and we have to keep them in line," she said. "I'll not miss the dirt, getting dirt on me every single day. And the blood. I hate blood, which is like, why are you on The Walking Dead? I hate blood. But I'll miss these guys. As sad as it was to end it, we're really proud. We do it for the fans, so I think they're going to like it."

The Walking Dead will return for its final eight episodes beginning Oct. 2 on AMC. Watch the video above for more from the cast.

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