Why Michonne Might Miss Episodes Of The Walking Dead Season 8

Rosita might not be the only character sitting out a few episodes of The Walking Dead Season 8. Another tough female might be joining her on the sidelines.

Like Rosita, Michonne was severely injured in The Walking Dead‘s Season 7 finale. Rosita took on a gunshot while Michonne took a hefty beating and was thought dead for a moment. Evidence has already pointed to Rosita being absent as a result of the timing of actress Christian Serratos‘ pregnancy. For Michonne actress Danai Gurira, there is another very specific obstacle in the way of her Season 8 role.

Gurira is starring in Avengers: Infinity War.

While the Avengers movie is in production only a few miles away from The Walking Dead‘s eighth season, Gurira is set up to miss episodes the same way Serratos is. Both characters suffered serious injuries and won’t be able to take to the battlefield when the communities roll out, guns blazing against the Saviors. Looking back at Alanna Masterson‘s role being reduced to allow time for her childbirth and spending time with her newborn, the AMC series might have accounted for the scheduling conflict in its storytelling late in Season 7.

For Masterson, Tara Chambler was sent on a supply run with four episodes remaining in Season 6. She didn’t appear on the show again until the sixth episode of Season 7.

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On top of Avengers, the Black Panther film will heavily feature Gurira as Okoye, a member of the Dora Milaje, responsible for protecting the titular hero. As is standard with most films, the Ryan Coogler-directed Marvel Studios film may be going through a re-shoots process at the same time as The Walking Dead‘s production.

The Walking Dead began production on its eighth season in late April. By now, the AMC series is likely deep into work on its fourth or fifth episode, alotting eight days of work to each episode with a only a handful running longer.

In addition to working on the Marvel Studios film, Gurira additionally spent a small portion of her spring traveling to promote All Eyez on Me film in which she played mother to Tupas Shakur.

This might all just be adding up to an overzealous conspiracy theory. Many stars of The Walking Dead travel while the show is in production, appearing at various Walker Stalker Conventions around the country, for example. However, Gurira has quite clearly been given the same story set up for absence as her co-stars and this all comes before we look at her comic book counterpart.

By comparison to The Walking Dead comics, Gurira is filling out the role of the book’s Andrea. Andrea is largely absent from the beginning of the All Out War story which pits Rick Grimes against Negan in the wake of her terrible, near death experience. Andrea does survive the war, indicating that Gurira’s Michonne is unlikely to leave The Walking Dead, but she might be watching part of the upcoming war from the same place fans are.

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Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season in October of 2017. The first trailer is expected to arrive at San Diego Comic Con in July. For complete coverage and insider info all off-season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.