'The Walking Dead' Showrunner on Danai Gurira's Possible Exit
The Walking Dead may be losing Danai Gurira in the recently promised Season 10.Gurira joined The [...]
The Walking Dead may be losing Danai Gurira in the recently promised Season 10.
Gurira joined The Walking Dead as Michonne in Season 3, reprising the role in each season since, until her contract expired following production on the current Season Nine. Heading into Season 10 in October, Gurira's role in The Walking Dead's future is listed as uncertain, though negotiations are taking place behind-the-scenes. Now, showrunner Angela Kang and executive producer Greg Nicotero have weighed in.
"I'll just say Michonne is obviously a huge part of the story of The Walking Dead," Kang told INSIDER. "We absolutely love Danai. Anything that's contract-wise, that's for people to work out, but we have a lot of exciting stories to tell with her going forward. We're thrilled for what's in store for her. That's as much as I can say right now."
Nicotero, who directs the next new episode of The Walking Dead which is set to air this Sunday, shared a similar sentiment in regards to Gurira's future but also stressed that the show has other characters which the audience is invested in.
"Yeah, listen, of course," Nicotero told INSIDER in regards to being hopeful for more of Michonne. "For me, it's always important to maintain some integrity from season to season of these characters that we're invested in and we've fallen in love with." The popular newcomers include Yumiko, Magna, and Luke while faces like Daryl, Carol, and others remain satisfying, as well. "There's a lot of great characters that are still on the show and there's a lot of characters that left the show that I miss," Nicotero said. "But I'm pretty confident that there's lots of plans in place for all kinds of different scenarios."
Still, Nicotero and others behind-the-scenes have no intentions of leaving their happy gigs any time soon. "If somebody would have told me 10 years ago, 'You guys are going to be starting your 10th year of doing zombie makeup and creating this post-apocalyptic show that has all these great twists and turns, I wouldn't even have been able to comprehend it," Nicotero said. "It's a tremendous compliment to the cast. It's a tremendous compliment to the crew ... it's pretty great."
The Walking Dead returns for the back half of its ninth season on February 10, 2019 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.
