'The Walking Dead' Showrunner Address Andrew Lincoln, Lauren Cohan Exits

The Walking Dead is going through changes, including losing Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan in Season Nine, which new showrunner Angela Kang has now addressed in a somewhat roundabout way.

Kang was outright asked how the AMC series will handle such exits. While there is no official comment on Lincoln yet, she did acknowledge the "heartbreaking" nature of losing cast members while talking about Cohan's final season as Maggie.

"We don't want to spoil anything," Kang told THR. "With anything that happens on the show, no matter who goes in any given season, we're always having to say goodbye to people, and it's heartbreaking for us as people, but it's always in service of the story. We just hope that people will come along on the ride with us because I'm very proud of what we're doing."

In the wake of Carl's death in the Mid-Season Eight premiere, The Walking Dead is facing a revamp when Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Cohan's Maggie are next to go.

"We started telling a story at the end of last season without Carl, and since there's so many great characters on the show, different people will step up," Kang said. "It'll never fill the exact gap that a character leaves but there are other people whose stories will come to the forefront in great ways. With Lauren, she has said that she would like to come back to the show and we would love to have her back; we think there's more story with Maggie to tell. We already have some plans brewing that I think are pretty cool. So the world of The Walking Dead moves on with whoever we have at the moment. It's what we've always done."

As for Rick's Season Nine story, Kang is will to share a few details of where audiences will find him and the trouble constantly waiting for him in the apocalypse.

"Rick opens up the season in a place where things are relatively good and peaceful for him," Kang said. "He made that unexpected decision to let Negan live at the end of season eight, and we'll deal with some of the after effects of that because it was such a momentous thing. And the trauma of losing his son Carl, even with the passage of time, is something that is still painful for him. We're going to see him try to turn that pain into something positive for everybody. Rick will face some real challenges along the way. The thing that I hope the audience will respond to is seeing how Rick's underlying goodness and leadership will shine in moments of great adversity."

The Walking Dead will return for its ninth season in the fall. Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC, returning for the second half of its fourth season on August 12th. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.