'The Walking Dead': Will Whisperers Put Michonne on a Pike?

Following the news of The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira exiting the series, fans immediately began speculating how Michonne's departure would be carried out.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead comics and possibly TV series follow. Major spoilers!

With the arrival of the Whisperers, an iconic and deadly sequence from Robert Kirkman's comics became an immediate expectation among viewers of the AMC series. In issue #144, it was revealed the villainous group had infiltrated the survivors readers had been following to kidnap and execute them. As a result, faces like Rosita, Ezekiel, Tammy, and Early were discovered reanimated as the characters' heads were placed on pikes to mark Whisperer territory. The horrifying warning set the stage for the Whisperer War which followed.

With Gurira set to exit, many suddenly fear they will see Michonne's head on one of those Whisperer pikes. However, this won't be the case.

The Walking Dead has wrapped production on its ninth season. Gurira will reprise the role in Season 10. Michonne will not be killed off, let alone have her head placed on a pike. Her fate, of course, is speculation beyond that simple fact. With a trilogy of films starring Andrew Lincoln on the way, it's possible Michonne will reunite with her long-running love interest in Rick Grimes in a film should the narrative be left open-ended.

"I'll reserve my thoughts on that for now," Gurira told ComicBook.com in September in regards to sticking with the show beyond Season Nine. "But of course, all things ultimately wound up. Of course it'll be really hard. This will be like, the day it happens, whenever it is for me, this is family. I've grown as a human being, as a professional. I've got family and friends here that I will have for the rest of my life -- which is a beautiful thing."

On the bright side, The Walking Dead is aiming to return Lauren Cohan to the role of Maggie in the upcoming tenth season, according to showrunner Angela Kang.

The Walking Dead TV series returns for the back half of its ninth season on February 10th 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.