‘The Walking Dead’ Renewed For Season 11 & Lauren Cohan To Return As Maggie
Today’s New York Comic-Con panel for ‘The Walking Dead‘ produced a couple of nice surprises for fans. Firstly, confirmation that the show would return for an 11th Season, and secondly, an appearance by Lauren Cohan, confirming she will be returning to the drama.
As you might remember, we last saw Lauren Cohan’s Maggie at the beginning of Season 9, prior to the time-jump. When we returned 6 years later, it was revealed Maggie had left the Hilltop to help the mysterious Georgie build another community, leaving Jesus and Tara in charge (that worked out well…) Behind the scenes, Cohan’s contract had come to an end, so she had, understandably, requesting pay parity with her co-stars. When that didn’t happen, she took a lead role on ABC series ‘Whiskey Cavalier’. That only ran for one season, so she is now free to rejoin ‘The Walking Dead’.
Cohan surprised fans at the panel earlier today, walking up onto the stage in disguise to an extremely excited reception from the audience when she removed her mask, followed by hugs from her Walking Dead family. You can see the reveal clip below:
The moment @LaurenCohan announced she was returning to #TheWalkingDead ? #NYCC2019 #SkyboundNYCC pic.twitter.com/mMTND7ykFx
— The Walking Dead (@TheWalkingDead) October 5, 2019
Maggie will be reintroduced “later in Season 10”, so probably in the second half of the season. However, it will be a welcome return, given the gang are about to get into the Whisperer War, they will need all the help they can get. We also know we are losing Michonne this season, as Danai Gurira heads off to new projects, so having an old character return may help to fill the void.
Also announced at the panel was the addition of Paola Lazaro (‘Lethal Weapon’, ‘SMILF’) as a fan favourite from the comic books, Juanita Sanchez, aka the Princess of Pittsburgh. In the comics, the character describes herself as “little loopy from not being around people for so long.” She is a silly and good-natured lone survivor who was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until she meets a group led by Eugene, and settles in Alexandria.
Lazaro joins other newcomers Thora Birch (‘Parenthood’, ‘Ghost World’) who plays the Whisperer Gamma, Kevin Carroll (‘Snowfall’, ‘The Leftovers’) who portrays Virgil, a resourceful survivor desperately trying to get home to his family, and Juan Javier Cardenas (‘Snowfall’, ‘SWAT’) as Dante, a charming, roguish, and sometimes annoying, guy who can sometimes put his foot in his mouth.
As we head into the new season, it is now Spring, a few months after the end of Season 9, when our group of survivors dared to cross into Whisperer territory during the harsh winter. The collected communities are still dealing with the after-effects of Alpha’s horrific display of power, reluctantly respecting the new borderlines being imposed on them, all while organizing themselves into a militia-style fighting force, preparing for a battle that may be unavoidable.
But the Whisperers are a threat unlike any they have ever faced. Backed by a massive horde of the dead it is seemingly a fight they cannot win. The question of what to do and the fear it breeds will infect the communities and give rise to paranoia, propaganda, secret agendas, and infighting that will test them as individuals and as a society. The very idea of whether civilization can survive in a world filled with the dead hangs in the balance.
Season 10 sees Norman Reedus (Daryl), Melissa McBride (Carol), Josh McDermitt (Eugene), Christian Serratos (Rosita), Seth Gilliam (Gabriel), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Khary Payton (Ezekiel), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) all return. Danai Gurira will also be back for a limited number of episodes as Michonne before she leaves the drama.
‘The Walking Dead‘ Season 10 premieres Monday, 7th October 2019 at 9pm on FOX UK.
