The Walking Dead fans find ‘proof’ Rick finally loses his hand in The Ones Who Live

A New York Comic-Con teaser for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live features Rick Grimes back in action, but fans are convinced they’ve spotted him having lost a hand.

New York Comic-Con is already off to a big start for The Walking Dead fans. In addition to the announcement that Melissa McBride would be returning for TWD: Daryl Dixon, fans got their first look at the upcoming spin-off, The Ones Who Live. 

Announced in 2022, The Ones Who Live sees Andrew Lincoln make his return to the franchise as Rick Grimes. Grimes was seen in a series of sequences in The Walking Dead’s finale, all while Danai Gurira’s Michonne was searching for him. 

The NYCC reveal included a short teaser, and fans are convinced they’ve discovered Rick getting a major comic change. 

Walking Dead fans believe Rick is missing a hand in NYCC reveal

The NYCC reveal trailer for The Ones Who Live features Rick in all sorts of peril, but Twitter user TWDUPromos is convinced one scene features Rick missing his hand. 

The observation is spurred by early leaks for The Ones Who Live, which imply Rick would lose his hand. Those leaks have been neither confirmed nor denied, and set photos don’t show any kind of accommodation for removing Rick’s hand either on-set or in post-production. 

Many are in debate in the comments about whether or not Rick is actually missing his hand. For what it’s worth, the full YouTube trailer does appear to clearly depict Rick still with a hand, though he’s holding it somewhat awkwardly. Still, it is possible the scene is somehow being edited to preserve a spoiler.

Rick losing his hand was a pivotal moment in the comics that never made its way to the television series. In the comics, Rick’s hand is cut off by The Governor. It’s depicted as a major turning point for Rick, who seems to finally accept that the old world he knew is gone after the loss. 

Image Comics

Rick’s hand being cut off was a pivotal The Walking Dead moment that never made it to the TV show.

While Rick missing his hand became an important character arc and visual for the comic, creator Robert Kirkman argued against it for the TV series, as he explained at a 2011 San Diego Comic-Con appearance.

“One thing I’m adamant about is I don’t think that we should cut Rick’s hand off [on television],” he explained. “When I’m writing a comic book, I don’t think about what I’m doing. I go, ‘Oh, it’d be pretty cool if they cut his hand off right now. That’d be pretty shocking, right?’ Then I do it, and five issues later, I write, ‘Rick opens a can of beans’, and then I look at the script and think, ‘He can’t do that now.’ I didn’t even think that through.”

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live debuts on AMC in February 2024. For more The Walking Dead news, be sure to follow all our coverage.