It was pretty much a given that there was going to be a substantial time jump between the events of season 8 of AMC's The Walking Dead and the upcoming ninth season, because in the comic book source material there was a two year jump between the "All-Out War" that was waged against the villainous Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan on the show) and the next storyline. But when the show is deviating so far from the source material that it's even killing off Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) and will soon see the exit of lead character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), it would be understandable if any fans were concerned the time jump might not happen.
During a "Kick-Ass Women of AMC" panel at an AMC press event, The Walking Dead's new showrunner Angela Kang confirmed a time jump will be happening, saying that
We're playing with time in the season, so we get to jump forward in the story."
The "playing with time" part is interesting, given what's happening on Fear the Walking Dead in its fourth season – there was a multiple-year time jump on that show as well, and episodes have been split between events that are happening in the present and flashbacks to events that happened between seasons. Maybe The Walking Dead will be doing something similar… It was recently confirmed that Jon Bernthal, whose Walking Dead character Shane Walsh was killed off back at the end of season 2, will be appearing in a season 9 episode, so we're definitely going to be seeing at least one face from the distant past, whether it's in a flashback, a dream, or a hallucination.
Kang also said,
We're working on a season that has a really fresh look and feel. 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. …
We're going to see some really great stories with the women in our show, particularly. And I think for people who are really invested in Michonne [Danai Gurira], Maggie [Lauren Cohan], or Carol [Melissa McBride], there's such great material for them. For people who are looking for that specifically, they will see some really incredible work from our women."
Kang has been working on The Walking Dead since the second season, initially being credited as story editor and then earning her first writing credit on the season's sixth episode. She was promoted to producer on the third season and became co-executive producer as of the fifth season. She is now the series' fourth showrunner, and she takes over that role at an interesting time – a time when the ratings are dropping, viewers are becoming more dissatisfied with the show, and high profile characters/actors are leaving. Cohan's Maggie will be following Lincoln's Rick out the door this season.
I'm hoping Kang will be able to turn the show around and make the new season an improvement over the previous one (at least), but the fact that Lincoln and Cohan are dropping out doesn't have me feeling very positive about it.
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