WARNING: Major spoilers below.
Good news and bad news, The Walking Dead fans: the show is returning for a ninth season, but longtime showrunner Scott Gimple is retiring from showrunner duties as he pivots to a much bigger role as chief content officer.
To replace him is Angela Kang, who has been with the show since 2011, when she served as a story editor and writer. Since 2013, Kang has served as co-executive producer, and starting in the show's ninth season, she'll officially be running the whole thing.
"This is an enormously important day for the entire The Walking Dead television universe," Charlie Collier, the boss of AMC, Sundance TV, and AMC Studios said, as Variety reports.
The renewal of the show comes as no surprise, as The Walking Dead is undoubtedly one of the most popular, memorable, and anticipated shows in recent memory. Though its eighth season wasn't included in our list of best shows in 2017, the show remains one of AMC's biggest cash cows and crowd pleasers.
It remains to be seen how Kang's approach affects the overall narrative direction of the show, but it's safe to say there's no one better suited to do that job than she is, being a longtime writer of the show.
"Working on this series and having the opportunity to adapt Robert Kirkman's amazing comic has been a fangirl dream come true for me," said Kang. "I'm excited to continue working with Scott and the wonderfully supportive folks at AMC, and can't wait to share the next chapter of the story with our fans next fall."
Season 9 of The Walking Dead is set to premiere later in fall. The rest of season 8 will continue on Feb. 25 to see what happens after Carl, the character played by Chandler Riggs, was bitten by a walker.
Frank Darabont was the show's original showrunner until he was replaced by Glen Mazzara. Gimple replaced Mazzara in the fourth season, and he also serves as executive producer for Fear The Walking Dead, a spinoff show based on the main series. As chief content officer, Gimple will oversee both shows moving forward. While the show remains as one of the most watched programs, it has recently seen ratings decline.
Thoughts about The Walking Dead? Ready for the midseason break to end this coming February? What are your expectations from the show's ninth season? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
