Now that The Walking Dead season eight is officially in the books, it’s time to look forward… to season nine. There’s a problem, though: one of the show’s biggest stars, Lauren Cohan, currently doesn’t have a contract. It’s hard to imagine The Walking Dead continuing without Maggie Greene, especially after the season 8 finale. After Rick lets Negan, who smashed her husband’s head in with a baseball bat, live, Maggie tells Daryl (who was humiliated by the Saviors) and Jesus, “Rick was wrong to do what he did. Michonne, too. So we’re gonna bide our time, wait for our moment, and then we’re gonna show him.”
Maggie won’t be able to show him if she’s not on the show, though.
Cohan (whose distressed reaction to Rick’s let-him-live decision was the best part of the episode) nabbed the lead role in the ABC pilot Whiskey Cavalier, which, coupled with her lack of contract, could make fulfilling her Walking Dead duties difficult. But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, who disclosed that he can’t “entertain the thought” of the actress not being back, sounded optimistic about Maggie returning.
“I would imagine relatively soon,” he said about Cohan’s contract being signed. “We’re talking: dotting i’s, crossing t’s, that sort of thing. But no real news on it just yet… We’re still talking about certain aspects of it. But we know what we’re doing, given the parameters under which we’re operating. There’s a wide possibility of parameters.” As for whether the show would ever recast Maggie, “Oh, lord. Lauren Cohan is Maggie. We’re talking about this stuff now. That isn’t something we’re discussing. We’re figuring it out. That isn’t really on the table.”
Once the off-screen drama ends, the on-screen Rick vs. Maggie action begins.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)