Aaron Remains Optimistic, Becomes a Leader in ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8

Among the characters injecting hope into The Walking Dead‘s eighth season will be Ross Marquand‘s Aaron.

The character and actor joined the AMC series in its fifth season, acting as a beacon of hope for a desperate group of survivors, offering them sanctuary at the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Since, Aaron has been put through about as much as any human can take. The Saviors have beaten him, members of his community have died with the self-inflicted guilt of those attacks weighing heavily, and even the horse he was trying to track down shortly after his introduction was devoured by zombies.

Still, Marquand told ComicBook.com on the set of The Walking Dead that his character will remain optimistic.

“I think he’s still the optimist, but I think he’s going to have to move into a much more leadership role, now that, especially pretty much all the main leaders in Alexandria are dead,” Marquand said. “They died mostly last year, and with them gone, his role as a recruiter needs to transition into more like a central leadership role. And I think that’s where he’s going to be going next.”

With war on the horizon, Marquand is as excited as anyone to be a part of the action sequences which will pit his group against Negan and the Saviors. For Aaron, Marquand insists he will be “kicking ass,” which is what the actor has hoped for.

“I think that’s what I’ve been wanting to see, a shift in him because he’s such a nice guy and that’s great,” Marquand said. “I think that people love seeing that side of him, but he’s been pushed around and picked on so much at this point, that I want to see that breaking point where he just finally says, ‘Enough.’ And he just goes and starts kicking ass.”

The Walking Dead‘s sibling series Fear the Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season on October 22, 2017. The Season Eight premiere will mark 100 episodes overall for the popular AMC series. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.