The Walking Dead Boss Scheduled For Talking Dead After Michonne’s Exit Episode

The Walking Dead chief content officer and former showrunner Scott Gimple is scheduled to appear on Talking Dead following the exit episode sending off Danai Gurira's Michonne. If the episode moves forward as scheduled, Gimple will appear alongside Walking Dead super-fan and once interim Talking Dead host Yvette Nicole Brown, who will discuss Season 10 episode 13, "What We Become," with host Chris Hardwick. The typically live aftershow temporarily went dark on Sunday due to the coronavirus pandemic; in its place, AMC moved forward an episode of Ride With Norman Reedus, the documentary reality series following the titular Walking Dead star on his global travels.

Gimple is a frequent visitor to the Talking Dead couch and last appeared on an episode discussing the penultimate episode of The Walking Dead Season 9, "The Calm Before," where such tenured characters as Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Enid (Katelyn Nacon) were murdered by Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton).

Before that, Gimple appeared on Talking Dead following Season 9 episode "What Comes After," the final episode for Rick Grimes star Andrew Lincoln. It was during that November 2018 appearance that Gimple announced the Walking Dead movie trilogy set to star Lincoln and taking place after Rick's disappearance from Virginia.

There are suspicions Gimple could make a similar announcement for Gurira, who would be the next Walking Dead star to join the movie franchise following Lincoln and Anne-slash-Jadis actress Pollyanna McIntosh.

Gimple previously hinted the star quality of the in-demand Gurira — who has appeared in Marvel Studios blockbusters Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as Wakandan general Okoye — makes the big screen a natural next step for Michonne.

"I remember sitting in Black Panther at the premiere and watching her as Okoye, and just sort of sinking into my chair and being like, 'Oh my God, Danai is a movie star.' I think she blew away everybody on the screen," Gimple previously told The Hollywood Reporter. "She's always blown us away, but she was our little secret with 17 million people. Now the secret's out."

During San Diego Comic-Con in July, where an emotional Gurira confirmed her exit from the television show, Gimple said The Walking Dead is "not completely done" with Gurira.

"We're not completely done with anyone who comes and goes on the show," Gimple said. "But she has some amazing things ahead."

That includes Gurira's final episode, set to include an appearance from an old friend while Michonne navigates a suspicious situation with the newly encountered Virgil (Kevin Carroll).

It's not clear if Talking Dead will move forward as planned this week amid industry-wide pauses on production.

On Friday, it was learned AMC delayed physical pre-production on The Walking Dead Season 11 and put a three-week hiatus on Fear the Walking Dead filming out of an "abundance of caution" over coronavirus concerns. The Walking Dead Season 11 remains in production, with most of its pre-production work moving forward remotely.

Gurira's final episode of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, March 22 at 9/8c on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.

Photo credit: Tommaso Boddi