'The Walking Dead' news: creator Robert Kirkman gives a rough idea when the Alexandrians' story will end

The all-out war against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) may just be starting to shape up, but could it possibly be the beginning of the end for the juggernaut "The Walking Dead" as a series? Creator Robert Kirkman has quite a timeline to share for fans who are worried.

In the latest issue of the show's comic book counterpart, which is instalment number 161, Kirkman provided some insights into when Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his team can play the survival game in the AMC series.

"It took us 6 seasons to get to 100," the author wrote (via Comicbook.com). "It won't take us 6 years to get to 200 and that will take us to season ... TWELVE. And we'll still be ahead of the show at that point."

At the rate that the show is going, about 20 issues worth of story from the comics translate to a single season and currently, the TV show is sitting at the storyline for issue 111 featuring Spencer's death. That means if they keep the pace, and AMC continues to rake in viewership, it would need three more years to catch up with the current narrative from the source material. But given that both the incantations of the apocalyptic arc continue to produce stories, it might take both media to continue even longer. As of now, it really is quite difficult to predict as a lot of factors can still affect the longevity of the show.

On the subject of endings, Michael Rooker shares his take on how he thinks the series will eventually wrap up. Earlier this month, the "The Walking Dead" alum appeared at the Walker Stalker Con and gamely narrated his perceived finale with great detail.

"A railroad track ... going on forever, into the setting sun," Rooker who played Merle Dixon until the star of season 3. "From behind camera, a single individual walks down the middle of the track...into the setting sun. You realize that individual is Carl ... all grown-up, a man of his own. No one else is with him — just him. And as he does his voiceover, you realize that all the seasons that you've seen is him reliving his past. So everyone on the show is dead. He's the only survivor, and he's on his own and walks off into the sunset. And that's the end of the show."

"The Walking Dead" season 7 will return with new episodes on AMC sometime early next year.