‘The Walking Dead’ is losing another key star as Danai Gurira will be leaving the series after appearing in a handful of episodes during season 10…
Danai Gurira — who portrays katana wielding bad ass Michonne — will be leaving ‘The Walking Dead’ after appearing in a few episodes in season 10, which will debut on AMC later this year.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gurira reached a deal to return to ‘The Walking Dead’ for a handful of episodes in season 10 after the show was just renewed earlier this week by AMC.
From the sound of things, Gurira will film her episodes that could potentially run throughout season 10 but she’s only expected to make a few appearances next season before exiting ‘The Walking Dead’.
The shocking news comes on the heels of ‘The Walking Dead’ losing Andrew Lincoln during season 9 as he left his series regular role as lead character Rick Grimes. Lincoln will return to play Rick Grimes again in ‘The Walking Dead’ made-for-television movies that are being produced by AMC.
If there is some potentially good news about Gurira’s exit it’s that she will likely return for those same ‘Walking Dead’ movies that will star Lincoln after she leaves the main ‘Walking Dead’ series. Gurira and Lincoln’s characters were in a relationship on ‘The Walking Dead’ before they were both scheduled to leave the show.
Lauren Cohan (Maggie Rhee) also left ‘The Walking Dead’ during season 9 amidst contract negotiations and ultimately booked a new show called ‘Whiskey Cavalier’ that debuts on ABC later this month. Cohan has said she’s open to returning to the show in season 10 and beyond but as of now no deal has been worked out for her to make further appearances on the series.
Gurira has found a lot of success in recent years outside of ‘The Walking Dead’ including appearances in ‘Black Panther’ as well as ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and the upcoming ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
Her exit from ‘The Walking Dead’ is a massive blow to the series, which was already hit hard with Lincoln and Cohan leaving the show during season 9. ‘The Walking Dead’ is based on comic books by Robert Kirkman and all three characters played by the exiting actors are still alive and play major roles in the stories ahead.
It’s unclear how ‘The Walking Dead’ will handle losing so many key players in such a short period of time but the show has already been renewed for season 10 and it’s tough to imagine AMC won’t keep the show going with the huge ratings the series continues to receive.
Gurira will continue to appear in ‘The Walking Dead’ season 9 when the series returns on Sunday night, February 10 and then for a handful of episodes next season before she exit the main series permanently.
