Big Details About 'Walking Dead' Season 9 Revealed
by EG
The Walking Dead has struggled of late, losing nearly two thirds of its audience from its ratings peak and also losing two of it central cast members. The series' new showrunner has a plan for turning things around, though. Read on for details.
The Walking Dead's newest showrunner, Angela Kang, made her first public appearance since taking over the top job from Scott M. Gimple during an AMC press event Wednesday.
While Kang remained tight-lipped about the futures of series stars Andrew Lincoln (Rick) and Lauren Cohan (Maggie), she did reveal one major detail to expect when the zombie drama returns in October.
"We're playing with time in the season, so we get to jump forward in the story," Kang revealed during a "Kick-Ass Women of AMC" panel. That confirmed that the AMC drama will indeed follow the events of creator Robert Kirkman's comic book series in which the narrative jumped forward two years following the end of the "All-Out War" arc between Rick and Negan.
While Kang did not address the departure of series lead Lincoln — AMC has yet to comment on the star's pending exit — or just how Cohan's Maggie will be written out after the actress' salary standoff with the cable network, she painted a larger picture of her vision for The Walking Dead.
"We're working on a season that has a really fresh look and feel," she said. "We come in on some pretty fun stuff. I'm really focusing a lot on the core character relationships in the show that have kind of been long-lasting, as well as all of our wonderful series regulars."
Kang has been with The Walking Dead since season one, episode seven. In taking over for Gimple, she becomes the show's fourth overall showrunner. Frank Darabont launched the series and was replaced by Glen Mazzara, with Gimple taking over for the former. For his part, Gimple was promoted to serve as chief content officer of all things The Walking Dead for AMC after creator Kirkman moved his overall deal to Amazon Studios.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Are you excited for the new season of TWD? Let us know in the comments below.