The Walking Dead fans petition to keep Andrew Lincoln on the show

A fan-made petition hopes to keep longtime Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln on the show, despite news he plans to leave after season 9.

Fans of The Walking Dead are not okay with Andrew Lincoln leaving the show. Like a sappy Weezer song, they’re singing “say it ain’t so” — hoping, begging, pleading for the man who brought Rick Grimes to life to continue on to battle walkers and bad guys alike.

When the series premiered in 2010, we met a clean-shaven, groggy-eyed Rick wake up in a hospital, only to discover the world he’d known had died (literally). Since then, we’ve seen Lincoln as the rough and gruff Rick, leading family and friends to the CDC, Hershel’s farm, the prison, Alexandria and more. It just doesn’t seem possible that Rick is going to be gone after season 9.

Fans won’t stand to see Rick go, creating a Change.org petition to keep Lincoln on the series. The petition, titled “TWD creators rethink Rick’s departure,” has over 3,000 supporters at the time of this post. The petition’s goal is set for 5,000.

The heartbreaking first line of the petition asks “Will Judith even remember father?” After hitting us right in the feels, the petition goes on to celebrate Lincoln’s eight years on the show, while attributing his leaving to “the negative result of the controversy within the AMC production. From Carl’s death, budget issues to Lauren Cohan’s pay dispute with AMC. ”

The petition ends with the following request for signatures:

"Sign this petition to encourage the creators behind the show and Lincoln himself to rethink the magnitude of the premature death of the character who has been set up to restore civilisation, law and order and to raise his daughter safely. Andrew Lincoln has poured his heart and soul into the show and if he feels it’s time to bookend the characters story and have more time with his family, the creators behind the show should reconsider the timing of his departure and the effect his death will have on the shows overall arcs and other characters."

Fans are definitely shocked that this next season will be Lincoln’s last; mix that with news of Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie, also departing and there’s full-on panic of what the show will do or become.

Granted, we’ve had some fair warnings that season 9 was going to have some new vibes. Former showrunner Scott Gimple recently said, “people are going to see there’s a lot more story to tell.” A Rick-free Walking Dead is certainly one way to both refresh the show and offers new storylines to come about.

Walking Dead fans making efforts like this just to keep one actor on the show could help keep them in the top 20 spot of our Fandom 250 rankings. We’ll see if the petition comes through and truly brings Lincoln back on the show.

Related Story: 4 ways Rick Grimes could make his exit on The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead‘s season 9 premiere date will potentially be announced next month at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Until then, we’ll see how this petition fares and if Lincoln truly stays or goes.