The Walking Dead Season 10 Adds Maggie’s Comic Book Love Interest

The Walking Dead Season 10 will introduce comic book character Dante to the live-action TWD Universe.

“We’ll be meeting the character Dante from the comics,” showrunner Angela Kang told EW. “He is this roguish, fast-talking, sometimes charming, sometimes annoying guy who can sometimes put his foot in his mouth, but is an interesting presence in the comics.”

Dante is introduced in 2015’s The Walking Dead #131 as a member of the Hilltop colony who takes a romantic interest in widowed single mother Maggie, who eventually becomes his partner.

Because TV Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is currently away from the Virginia settlements assisting Georgie (Jayne Atkinson) with a new community, Dante will play an important but remixed role in the television series.

“He’s actually a love interest of Maggie,” Kang added of Dante’s comic book counterpart. “But in our world, the context is a little different, and he will play an important role in the story in Alexandria. So we’re excited about that.”

Kang did not reveal the actor who will play Dante or if the character will appear in the front or back half of the coming season. Asked about other characters jumping from the source material to the show in Season 10, Kang played coy.

“There will be some other characters we meet down the line,” she said, “but I don’t think I can quite talk about them yet. We’ll meet some really cool characters this year.”

One of those characters could be Stephanie, a character who may be the unidentified female voice that made radio contact with King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) in the final seconds of the Season 9 finale. In the source material, Stephanie emerges as the girlfriend of tinkerer Eugene (played in the show by Josh McDermitt).

When asked about the potential arrival of Juanita Sanchez, a.k.a. Princess — a bubbly survivor who joins the Alexandria community — Kang said with a laugh, “I don’t know. But we do love royalty on our show.”

Cohan’s involvement with Season 10 remains unknown following the cancellation of her new ABC series Whiskey Cavalier.

“We’ll see what happens,” Cohan previously told EW of her TWD return, clarifying on EW Radio she’s “definitely not done” with her role as Maggie Rhee.

“There is definitely a lot of exciting ways [for it to happen]. And the universe, I’m still very much a part of it. And it’s not over. So, for me, that’s exciting. And I get so excited because we talk about different possibilities.”

AMC will premiere the first look at The Walking Dead Season 10 as part of its San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel Friday, July 19. Season 10 premieres in October.