At this point, jokes about The Walking Dead being unkillable are as tired as the zombie genre itself. Best to focus on what’s fact, and it’s that the series is entering its 10th (!!!) season tonight and, like it or not, the show is still very popular. In fact, AMC isn’t pulling back on the long-lived series, they are extending the franchise with a third show, and bringing back a former castmember in time for the core series’ renewal.
Just hours from the start of The Walking Dead‘s 10th season, AMC has announced that it has been renewed for an 11th. Not only that, but yesterday’s NYCC panel saw Lauren Cohan hit the stage in a mask and confirm that she will be returning as Maggie Greene on a regular basis. Cohan split from the show after the 8th season and starred in the short-lived ABC series Whiskey Cavalier, but despite its cool promos and title the show was quickly canceled.
The moment @LaurenCohan announced she was returning to #TheWalkingDead ? #NYCC2019 #SkyboundNYCC pic.twitter.com/mMTND7ykFx— The Walking Dead (@TheWalkingDead) October 5, 2019
Cohan appeared in a handful of Walking Dead episodes for season 9, and had a role in the Mark Wahlberg action flick, Mile 22. Now, Cohan will be returning to fight zombies with her old crew…or some of them. There’s been a lot of changeover in the cast since she left.
The zombie-filled franchise she left is a different place. A third series is in the works, an untitled one with a female-centric cast, had its first panel at NYCC where a new trailer was debuted. Creator Scott M. Gimple, showrunner Matt Negrete and executive producer Robert Kirkman were on hand, along with the cast who are largely unknowns at this point, although that will soon change: Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Annet Mahendru, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston, and Nico Tortorella.
SYNOPSIS: The third installment of the franchise will feature two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse as we know it. Some will become heroes. Some will become villains. In the end, all of them will be changed forever. Grown-up and cemented in their identities, both good and bad. Produced and distributed by AMC Studios, the series will premiere on AMC in spring 2020.
