There seems to be quite a bit of concern and speculation after hearing that two of The Walking Dead’s keystone characters are preparing to leave the show. Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohen have been announced to be phasing out of the show during season nine with both actors only slated for 6 episodes. While the final fate of Rick Grimes and Maggie Rhee are still in question, it is my hope that at least one of them will be seen walking off into the sunset on a journey to happier times. The truth is as long as the actors are open to the idea, their characters do not have to die; perhaps they could make occasional appearances from another community for instance.
The next season of AMC’s, The Walking Dead, will be seeing a number of changes, including a new showrunner in the form of Angela Kang. With the exit of Andrew Lincoln, it has been announced that Norman Reedus’, Darryl Dixon, will be taking over in his place as the ‘unofficial’ leader of the survivors that remain. Questions abound as to what fate may befall actress Danai Gurira’s, Michonne with the loss of her counterpart as well. Since her foray into film with this summer’s hit Black Panther, it has been reported that she has a desire to bring more African-centric films into the mainstream; could this hint at a desire on her part to also leave the show?
As so many characters exit The Walking Dead, could this also be the death toll for the entire show? Hopefully, the answer here is no, there still remain many many characters with many storylines to explore; the real test of whether the show will survive into its next 100 episode as Scott Gimple has predicted will be the upcoming ninth season. If the show survives the loss of essentially, it’s a pivotal character in Rick Grimes, it will certainly be able to weather any storm. It has proven itself to be able to survive many losses thus far, including its biggest losses in season seven and eight with Glenn and Carl (spoiler!).
Story creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman has stated in the past that he plans to write the graphic novels for “a good long time” and although he does have an end in mind it is quite a long way off. With so many possible storylines to explore and a very large potential character pool to pull from there is material available for the show to run with. Some interesting characters to develop and possibly introduce include, Carol, Enid, Aaron, Jesus, Stephanie, Magna, and Dante.
So which Walking Dead characters, from the show or the graphic novels, do you want to see take a stand in the spotlight come season 9, 10, and beyond? What is your prediction for the fate of two of our beloved characters, Rick and Maggie? Let me know in the comments and make sure to tune in to AMC to catch all the latest episodes of TWD and FTWD. If you haven’t seen these shows yet, what’s wrong with you? Go to Netflix’s and join the post-apocalypse already!
