The Walking Dead franchise creator Robert Kirkman hints that the upcoming third season of TellTale's The Walking Dead will feature an older Clementine.

With The Walking Dead: Michonne mini-series set to wrap up with tomorrow's season finale, TellTale Games and franchise creator Robert Kirkman are looking ahead to what's next for the franchise. And what's next is The Walking Dead: Season 3, which Kirkman has hinted could feature an older version of series protagonist Clementine.

According to Kirkman, The Walking Dead: Season 3 will take place in roughly the same time frame of the current comic books. The first two seasons of TellTale's The Walking Dead take place near the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, meaning that The Walking Dead: Season 3 would need to feature an older Clementine to match up with the current Walking Dead comic book timeline.

However, Kirkman didn't confirm whether or not Clementine will remain the primary protagonist in the third season. After all, the first two seasons of The Walking Dead feature different main characters, and so it's possible that trend could continue with The Walking Dead: Season 3. As it stands, Kirkman has only said that The Walking Dead: Season 3 will be "checking in with Clementine," which could mean that she will serve the role of a supporting character next season.

Besides the fact that Clementine will be returning for the third season, Kirkman also confirmed that The Walking Dead: Season 3 will have a closer connection to the comics. So far, there have only been a couple of loose ties from the games to the comic books, but fans can expect The Walking Dead: Season 3 to be more "hand-in-hand" with the comics than the games have ever been before.

Of course, it remains to be seen if having the comics and games closely associated is a good thing for the series. The Walking Dead: Michonne has gotten lower scores compared to the previous games in the series, and it deals directly with a major character from the comics. Furthermore, a larger focus on the comic books could alienate fans that haven't bothered reading the comics, and may only be familiar with the TV show and TellTale's games. Those individuals may prefer that the game series sticks to original characters that don't require knowledge from the comics to really understand.

With The Walking Dead: Season 3 coming in 2016, we'll know soon enough whether a time jump and a closer connection to the comics pays off for TellTale's game series. After the shocking Walking Dead: Season 2 finale, many fans are eager to revisit Clementine and see what happens next, so hopefully TellTale's potential gambles pay off, as expectations are high going into the third season.

The Walking Dead: Season 3 is expected to have its season premiere later this year.

Source: IGN