The Walking Dead truly never dies as it enters into its 10th season in about a month – October 6 to be exact. There will be a lot of knives penetrating heads, long dialogue about surviving, people walking, and a strange group that wears dead people for clothes. Here is everything else to expect from Season 10, in no particular order, of Rick Grime’s journey… scratch that… Carl’s journey… oh yeah he’s not on the show either… the survivor’s journey – let’s go with that. Spoilers for The Walking Dead season 9 ahead!
10. Another Time Jump
The Walking Dead had its biggest time jump last season when little baby Judith turned into a bigger, sassy, zombie killing child. The next time jump, we can speculate from comments by showrunner Angela Kang, will happen at the beginning of season 10. Rosita has a baby in the season 10 trailer, which confirms that some time has passed from season 9 of The Walking Dead. Kang says the time jump allows the characters to live life under The Whisperers rules (you know the rule that our characters can’t pass the border signified by severed heads – that rule). Season 10 will fill us in on the repercussions of that tragic event and what the characters have done in response.
9. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma
That’s right; the skin people are getting another character. Gamma played by Thora Birch will be Alpha’s loyal lieutenant. Season 10 will also dive deeper into The Whisperers especially the relationship between Alpha and Beta, according to Beta actor Ryan Hurst via Comicbook.
“In Season Ten, [showrunner] Angela [Kang] and I have been rapping about exploring more of their relationship and getting some answers. And also starting to see if and when there’s sort of going to be a divergence between the two. That’s about as much as I can tell you. If I told you more I’d have to peel your face off.”
8. Maggie Returns?
It would be unfair to have an important character like Maggie leave the show off-screen never to come back again. Actress Lauren Cohen’s ABC sitcom, Whiskey Cavalier, was canceled and Kang is interested in bringing Maggie back. This seems like a good time, but there has been no official confirmation. The drama will likely ensue if she does come back. For one, her friend and sidekick leader of The Hilltop, Jesus, died by the new big bad group, The Whisperers. If she comes back and sees The Whisperers, then she’ll probably say “hell no” and leave again, to be honest.
7.Whisperer’s public enemy number one
In the comics, Rick implements a public hatred of The Whisperers by rallying the communities up against them. The season 10 trailer reveals a similar scenario. The communities will be banded together by the phrase – “silence the Whispers,” which is spray-painted all over the walls of these societies. It’s much like the government trying to rally the general public behind a war effort. “Silence the Whispers” is also the theme of the newest trailer.
6. Fire!
The Walking Dead season 10 will explore what fires can do in a world where they can’t be contained. The survivors will not only have to deal with dead people and fake dead people but forest fires as well. When you put those three together into one scene, it’s sure to be a fun watching experience – hopefully. Kang’s full comments about the implementation of fire can be found here.
5. Alpha vs. Carol
This showdown was teased in the Season 10 trailer when Carol said: “b**** had to die.” It makes sense story-wise since Alpha is responsible for Henry’s, who was practically Carol’s son, death. Carol’s development is one of the best in the show, and she is one of the only survivors tough enough to go against Alpha. This showdown could be in the form of heated words or actual combat; either one would be satisfying to watch.
4. Michonne Leaves the Show
This was rumored for a long time and confirmed during Comic-Con when Danai Gurira, Michonne, spoke about her departure. She expressed her love of the show but felt called to somewhere else. This makes sense because the show has indeed gone on since 2010. Her presence on The Walking Dead will be missed, especially after taking a more central role when Andrew Lincoln left. We are unsure about how Michonne will leave the show. It could be the death of her character or something else entirely. AMC will probably try their best to keep Daryl Dixon, Norman Reedus, and Carol Peletier, Melissa McBride since they are the only long-running cast members left. No matter what happens, The Walking Dead will continue jugging along.
3. Negan plays a major role
Negan is the peanut butter to Alexandria’s jelly, according to Father Gabriel. He will fight the Whisperers alongside our favorite group of post-apocalyptic survivors. Yes, the man who bashed in Glenn and Abraham’s heads is a “good” guy now. People really do change. If the TV show follows a similar path as the comics, then Negan will play an instrumental part in the Whisperer wars – more than just fighting alongside the three communities. The show is building Negan up to do something incredible. We have to wait and see.
2. Another community will be introduced
The commonwealth is the last storyline of the comics. It’s a highly civilized society, first introduced when Eugene talks to a representative over the radio, and the end of season 9 reveals that someone is trying to speak through Eugene’s radio. This will most likely be from a new society that will launch the new The Walking Dead storyline. The fascinating part is that the show has to experiment now. The comics are over, and the show is still very much alive. Even though it drastically swayed from the comics, it still followed the same plot outlines. Now the creators have to come up with new content entirely. That means Eugene’s radio most likely signifies a new community, but it might not be the commonwealth at all; it might be a new society altogether so the creators can save the commonwealth for their endgame(if there will ever be one).
1. It won’t end
Love it or hate it, The Walking Dead is here to stay. Unless there is some massive rating drop, the dead will continue walking. The big minds behind the show have publically stated that the show has a long life ahead. Most of the people I know stopped watching a long time ago. We used to have a big watch party every Sunday… now it’s just me. That’s what it feels like to be a Walking Dead fan right now. Don’t worry( or if you’re ready for it to end – worry)! There have been big rating drops for The Walking Dead standards, but it is still a top-rated show in the US. Previous showrunner Scott Gimple jokingly (but with some infused truth) said they could go on for 20 more years, according to NME.
“We are trying to do 20 years, The [Walking Dead] comic has certainly done it, and I look forward to every issue. The Simpsons has been on 26, 27 years, so that’s a challenge — so OK, challenge accepted. Done.”