‘The Walking Dead’s Tom Payne Reveals How Jesus Could Return

The Walking Dead star Tom Payne is already teasing the return of Jesus, though in flashback form.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9×08 follow. Major spoilers!

The Walking Dead killed Tom Payne’s character in the final moments of its latest episode, marking the arrival of the Whisperers. However, this won’t be the last time fans see Payne in the part of Jesus, after his three year stint on AMC‘s zombie series appeared to come to a close.

“There is a six year time jump between Episode 5 and Episode 6, so you maybe might see what happened with Jesus in those six years,” Payne told Good Day LA. “As far as this point in the timeline goes, at this point, he’s done-zo.”

The actor will return to the series in the second half of Season Nine during an episode containing flashbacks. Much of the story has been left untold, though recent episodes have teased a pair of mysteries in need of explaining. The first story in need of exploring is the how Daryl and Michonne came to have “X” marks on their backs. The second is the sudden beef between Alexandria and its surrounding communities, prompting Michonne’s journey to Hilltop to be an unwelcome one.

As for Tom Payne, he remains satisfied with his characters sendoff, although he wishes to have seen more from his role earlier in the series.

“All I care about is the story, and if the story is good, and they do it in the right way, then I don’t care,” Payne told ComicBook.com. “And if I help to tell that story, in a cool, surprising, and shocking way, then I’m down with that, and I think they really did that with the exit. So I’m super happy actually. I loved my beginning on the show, and I loved my ending on the show. The middle was meh, but the end was really cool and I’m really, really happy with that. So, yeah, I think it was kind of a mutual thing.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.