Updated: Jon Bernthal is headed back to The Walking Dead for season 9

Could Shane be coming back to The Walking Dead? A recent sighting of Jon Bernthal in Georgia with Andrew Lincoln teases the possibility.

Updated: TVLine exclusively reports that Jon Bernthal will indeed return to The Walking Dead for season 9, according to sources. Bernthal is set to appear in one episode.

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Shane Walsh left us (possibly too soon) on just the second season of The Walking Dead. Played by the talented Jon Bernthal, Shane was Rick Grimes’ best bud pre-apocalypse. Post-apocalypse, things got a bit shady with Shane, such as taking up with Rick’s wife Lori and getting her pregnant (oh hey, Judith), and then slowly but surely losing it once Rick took command and wanted to handle things differently.

We all know things didn’t end well for Shane. In his attempt to kill Rick, he got himself killed by Rick. The last glimpse we got of Bernthal was in season 3 as a hallucination. Since then, he’s moved on from walkers/zombies and onto other projects, namely The Punisher as Frank Castle.

But we may see the return of Shane, in some form, in season 9 of The Walking Dead. Recent sightings of Jon Bernthal in Georgia with Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus give us strong reasons to believe in this possibility.

Bernthal was spotted with Reedus and Lincoln at Nic & Norman’s, a pub in Senoia, Georgia. Reedus and Lincoln took a photo with some fans, while Bernthal browsed shirts in the background.

According to the Instagram user who posted this, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was around as well. She was also able to get a video, though it is a bit shaky.

Bernthal and Lincoln were also spotted at Senoia Coffee & Cafe, and the coffee shop shared this photo of the two hanging out in a car (with a pretty excited fan next to them).

Posted by Senoia Coffee & Cafe on Friday, June 15, 2018

With Bernthal hanging out with such famous and current Walking Dead cast members, and next season set to be a must-watch with major characters leaving, including Rick –– we definitely wonder if this means Shane will make an appearance.

Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse of Shane as another hallucination. We could also see Shane return in one of Rick’s dreams or simply a good ol’ flashback. With so much that has happened on the show since Shane’s death, we can easily see Rick having a lot to contemplate about, including Shane.

Or, crazy thought here, Judith is older in season 9 (since a time jump is happening) and she has some memories or flashbacks to share. Shane is her dad after all, as shared by Rick in season 7.

Then again, Bernthal could be on break from The Punisher and simply went to Atlanta to hang with his TWD family.

Shane coming back for season 9 would definitely be a must-see. (Anything to help with ratings, right?)

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