The Walking Dead EP’s Incredibly Hopeful Lauren Cohan Will Return

The ‘will she or won’t she’ saga surrounding Lauren Cohan and her return to The Walking Dead for season 9 continues today.

A few weeks ago, we learned that the actress was fielding offers from other television shows, as her contract is due to expire at the end of season 8 and the network wasn’t willing to give her the pay raise she wanted. Shortly after that, however, it was reported that the two parties were about to strike a deal and everything was going to work out.

Then, things took another turn when sources said Cohan was “actively looking for her next role” and does not have a deal in place with AMC yet for season 9 of The Walking Dead. And while that still is the case, showrunner Scott M. Gimple told TVLine in a recent interview that he’s “incredibly hopeful” about the actress returning.

“These things do happen in TV,” he said. “But we’re talking. And Lauren is an actor who has such intuition and such power. So yeah, hopefully, it all works out.”

Though far from confirmation that she’ll end up signing a deal, this is still encouraging to hear, as Maggie’s a firm fan favorite and Cohan obviously brings a lot to the series. And while it’s certainly possible that she may not be back next year to reprise the role, keep in mind that AMC knows how important the actress is to The Walking Dead. Not to mention that after the backlash they’ve seen due to Carl’s exit, we’d be surprised if they actually let her go.

Either way, though, with production on season 9 set to get underway this spring, we’ll no doubt hear more on the situation soon. In the meantime, though, we can all look forward to the return of the hit zombie drama on February 25th, when it’ll shuffle back onto the small screen with its midseason premiere, which will see Carl Grimes head for the exit door.