This cast and creative group on this show are so large that they had to separate the panel into two sections. The panel consisted of: THE WALKING DEAD UNIVERSE chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, showrunner and executive producer Angela Kang, executive producer Greg Nicotero and cast members Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Josh McDermitt, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, and Paola Lazaro. They were a lively group.
Now to the announcements: the season 10 finale will air on Sunday, October 4 with the premiere of the new TWD spinoff: WALKING DEAD: WORLD BEYOND following this episode’s long-delayed premiere. Angela Kang announced that they will not be airing Season 11 episodes this year at all and that the writer’s room for the show has been working remotely for months. Normally, the new season would start in October, but Kang further announced that Season 10 will be extended for six additional episodes when they can film again. The current plan is that Season 10 is actually not over and will continue in early 2021 after the episode, formerly known as the finale, airs in October provided that the world doesn’t end before then.
Ross Marquand said that perhaps it’s not a great idea to hope for romance for anyone in the Zombie Apocalypse and that, in particular, it’s not really safe to be someone that his character Aaron cares for because they all seem to die.
Lauren Cohen is officially back and when asked what she can tease about her character Maggie’s return, she responds, “Nothing.”, but Angela Kang talked about how Maggie will be coming back to the group where Negan, the man who murdered her husband, is free, so it sounds like Maggie has been set up for a conflict with Negan when she returns. It also sounds like some filming with Cohan might have taken place, but it’s not entirely clear.
The funniest quip, hands down, came from Josh McDermitt: the question was from a fan and they asked McDermitt what he missed most about being on set. Josh McDermitt deadpanned that it was “Filling up my lungs with JDM’s musk. The guy smells great.” while Greg Nicotero was pointing repeatedly to himself.
Scott Gimple was asked about what would have changed had Negan been killed and he referenced The Butterfly Effect, a principle concept of Chaos Theory that holds that even the slightest change in the Universe’s timeline, even the gentle flapping of a butterfly’s wings, can wreak monumental changes in the space/time continuum. It’s a concept that figures into science fiction frequently and seems to be a guiding principle for Gimple going forward. He also said that if he were to make a pre-Apocalypse show on any of THE WALKING DEAD characters, he would choose Glenn. It is not only because the show would be funny, but it’s also because he misses Steven Yeun.
Angela Kang also expressed that inclusion is very important to her personally and to the show and not only with casting but also behind the scenes, which is very encouraging to hear.
Paola Lazaro, one of the newest cast members who portrays Princess, said that she wants her character to be friends with Carol. I think we all want to be friends with Carol.
But overall, most of the information was about the basic concept of the show and the hoped-for plans for the upcoming extended Season 10 and then Season 11. There really wasn’t much in the way of plot details as you would expect.
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