While season 9 of The Walking Dead is generally agreed to be the best in years, fans have recently had a pretty tough time of it regarding their favorite characters. We’ve seen Glenn get his head smashed in, Carl committing suicide after being bitten by a Walker and Maggie and Rick leaving the main group (and the show).
Now, it seems that yet another fan favorite is departing: Danai Gurira’s Michonne. With Gurira’s star rising due to high profile roles in Black Panther and the upcoming Avengers: Endgame, it seems she’ll be graduating to the planned Rick Grimes movie trilogy. Longtime fans of the show are, shall we say, less than pleased with the news, and here’s just a selection of their responses:
#TheWalkingDead is officially over. It was only a matter of time for Michonne to leave after the shit storm from glenns death tbh.
— ✖Rosie✖ (@Unic0rnPreciado) February 8, 2019
TWD had a good run I have loved this show for so many years, and years and I don’t wanna give up but I’m tired, we lost so much and I can’t make it without Michonne… #TheWalkingDead
— Tomaj ⚔️ (@Tomaj21) February 8, 2019
Rick left, Michonne is leaving. Does the show expect viewers to watch Daryl mumble his way through next season? Put a fork in it ; #TheWalkingDead is done 😒😒
— Mos Eisley (@Cartwright_Four) February 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/beyondrhee/status/1093984766133600256
https://twitter.com/fentytwd/status/1093983617355866114
So, the verdict sounds pretty negative right now. It’s a testament to Michonne and Danai Gurira’s popularity that even on a series with a very high death count among its leads, this one seems to be hitting them particularly hard. Those amongst the fans that are blaming showrunner Angela Kang are probably off the mark though. I bet Kang would’ve given her right arm to keep Michonne, especially with Gurira’s popularity skyrocketing. But sadly, it seems that the actress has simply outgrown the show that made her.
That said, it’s a hell of a silver lining that Michonne isn’t departing the franchise for good. With the Rick Grimes trilogy intended to open up the world of The Walking Dead, I can’t think of a better character to explore it with. Plus, it’ll be really nice to see Michonne and Rick reunited on the big screen. The only real downside is that we’ve probably got quite a wait before these films arrive, which means that we have a long, Michonne-free gap in our lives in the near future.