It’s Official: Lauren Cohan Is Returning To ‘The Walking Dead’

Ahead of the ninth season of The Walking Dead, AMC announced that Lauren Cohan would be leaving the series after five episodes to play a co-lead on the ABC action comedy Whiskey Cavalier. The series, however, did not kill the character off, thus leaving Lauren Cohan’s exit open-ended, should she want to return. After five episodes, her character, Maggie, exited with little fanfare on the same episode that saw Rick Grimes leave the series before a time jump of several years. The series has made a couple of references to her character, however, saying that she joined forces with a character named Georgie.

After an extended absence and lots of speculation on whether or not she would return, ABC cancelled Whiskey Cavalier after one season. Cut to this morning, and AMC has made the official return announcement at New York Comic Con. Not only has The Walking Dead been renewed for an additional season — its 11th — but Lauren Cohan will rejoin the show as a series regular.

The tenth season of the series kicks off tomorrow night, although it doesn’t appear that we’ll be seeing Cohan as a regular until season 11. However, don’t dismiss the possibility that she makes a late-season return this year after the Alexandrians (presumably) defeat The Whisperers.