‘The Walking Dead’ Star Lauren Cohan Might Only Be in Half of Season 9

The eighth season of The Walking Dead ended with some major implications for Rick and his band of survivors, but he might have to move forward without one of his greatest allies.

Fan-favorite actor Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie Greene on the long-running series, has been ongoing negotiations with AMC over a pay increase for her role. Now Deadline is reporting that she closed a deal to appear in six episodes from the first half of Season 9.

If AMC wants to keep Maggie around after that, they’ll have to pay up — and deal with her filming schedule on the recently picked up ABC series Whiskey Tango, in which Cohan will star.

Filming for the first half of The Walking Dead Season 9 will wrap before production begins on Whiskey Tango, and she’s already been cleared to shoot more while the new series goes on hiatus later in the year, according to Deadline.

But AMC still has to negotiate another deal with her if they want her to appear after the mid-season break of The Walking Dead, and Cohan is wanting to get paid.

After the series lost one of the long-tenured actors in Carl Grimes in Season 8, it’s been criticized by fans for killing off fan-favorite characters. News of Cohan’s potential exit didn’t sit well with many viewers, but she assuaged their fears when she confirmed her return to Entertainment Weekly earlier this year.

“I’m coming back,” she said. “There’s a lot more Maggie story to tell… [I’m] not allowed to tell you anything, but it’s good.”

But now we know that it’s just for a six episodes in the first half of the season, it might be time to start worrying again.

ABC ordered a pilot for Cohan’s new series, who started fielding offers for new gigs after her negotiations with AMC started to stall. She eventually signed on for more The Walking Dead, but ABC picked up the pilot to series order shortly after.

This leaves AMC in a precarious position, especially after the events of The Walking Dead Season 8.

Maggie is positioned for an major role moving forward, possibly coming into conflict with Rick after the events of the All Out War.

We’ll learn more about Maggie’s fate and Cohan’s contract as production continues on The Walking Dead Season 9.

Do you think Maggie’s time in the post-apocalyptic series is coming to an end? Be sure to chime in with your thoughts in the comments.