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\"He [Lincoln] cares about the fans,\" Kirkman added. \"He cares about the show deeply. He wants to do something special on the way out. We have something amazing planned.

“I wouldn't want to spoil anything but anybody who has been a fan of his journey, who loves Rick Grimes, who loves the world of 'The Walking Dead,' you're going to want to see what we do.\"

\"PHOTO:
AMC
PHOTO: Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in 'The Walking Dead' season 8, episode 9.
>

It will be difficult to lose Lincoln's character, series' hero Rick Grimes, because he doesn't die in the comic books on which the series is based, Kirkman said.

\"It does make the differences between the comic and the show more pronounced,\" Kirkman said. \"But, at the end of the day, it's all about Andrew Lincoln. This is a human being. This is someone I have known for almost a decade, somebody that I love.

“He's been sweating in Georgia, away from his family, for so long.\"

Reports surfaced in May that Lincoln's co-star Norman Reedus will stay on and have his character, Daryl Dixon, take on a leading role in Lincoln's absence.

The ninth season premieres this fall.

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