The latest Walking Dead jump image (above) reveals things aren’t getting any better for the bedraggled cast.
This look to the future is expanded on by new Showrunner Angela Kang: “We’ll explore what happened as man-made objects and structures break down.
“Infrastructure like roads and bridges are changing and crumbling. And we’ll also explore what happens as resources are getting low.”
This marks the move into more post-apocalyptic terrain for the zombie epic.
In addition to the time jump, more news from Kang indicating much bigger changes with the loss of Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan in Season 9 (as reported here).
Kang had this to say about the loss of series staples Rick and Maggie: “We don’t want to spoil anything,” Kang said.
“With anything that happens on the show, no matter who goes in any given season, we’re always having to say goodbye to people, and it’s heartbreaking for us as people, but it’s always in service of the story. We just hope that people will come along on the ride with us because I’m very proud of what we’re doing.”
She continued: “We started telling a story at the end of last season without Carl, and since there’s so many great characters on the show, different people will step up,” Kang said.
“It’ll never fill the exact gap that a character leaves but there are other people whose stories will come to the forefront in great ways. With Lauren, she has said that she would like to come back to the show and we would love to have her back; we think there’s more story with Maggie to tell. We already have some plans brewing that I think are pretty cool. So the world of The Walking Dead moves on with whoever we have at the moment. It’s what we’ve always done.”
Regards Rick’s position opening up the new season, Kang said: “Rick opens up the season in a place where things are relatively good and peaceful for him.
“He made that unexpected decision to let Negan live at the end of season eight, and we’ll deal with some of the after effects of that because it was such a momentous thing. And the trauma of losing his son Carl, even with the passage of time, is something that is still painful for him. We’re going to see him try to turn that pain into something positive for everybody. Rick will face some real challenges along the way. The thing that I hope the audience will respond to is seeing how Rick’s underlying goodness and leadership will shine in moments of great adversity.”
New series art can be seen below (continues after pic):
Executive producer Scott Gimple told TV Line in April: “I think what’s exciting about next season is, just by virtue of the narrative, the story evolves a great deal,”
He continued: “From the things said in the finale, there’s a bigger ambition now, a bigger thing that they’re chasing. It isn’t just regular, everyday survival, which they’ve become quite adept at. It’s what to do with that. Now they’re going after civilization,”
“They’ll be dealing with things we haven’t seen them deal with before and dealing with each other in ways we haven’t seen before,”
“It feels like an evolved show. This very much lived in world that Rick began with. It was so informed by the pilot. It just takes this quantum leap forward in the stories that it tells.”
This is very much in line with the comics and the build towards a new civilisation that writer Robert Kirkman installed following his Negan epic. Fans of the comics will know that this also comes with new challenges and perhaps a very interesting new set of villains.
And finally, Community actress Yvette Nicole Brown is set to host The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead panel at SDCC next week and now it seems she’s set for a bigger role in The Walking Dead fandom.
“Yvette Nicole Brown will step in as an interim guest host of The Walking Dead Season 9 Preview Special on August 5 and Talking Dead when it returns following the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead on August 12, as we work to complete our assessment related to Chris Hardwick,” AMC have announced.
Regular host of the shows, Chris Hardwick has stepped down amid accusations of motional abuse and sexual assault by ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra.
No word on wether or not this will be a permanent move but, as always, we’ll keep you posted.
Source(s) Comicbook, gamesradar, Deadline and Comicbook
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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