Walking Dead’s season 9 time jump confirmed plus ‘great stories’ for women

Season 9 of The Walking Dead will absolutely have a time jump, plus “great material” for lead women on the show, per new showrunner Angela Kang.

As fans have long speculated, The Walking Dead will start season 9 with a time jump. New showrunner Angela Kang confirmed during an AMC press event Wednesday. This was her first press event since taking over from Scott M. Gimple.

We’ve followed rumors of said time jump, including a pretty revealing season 9 crew hat posted to Instagram. Kang kept relatively quiet when it came to details for season 9, but she did offer us this nugget:

"We’re playing with time in the season, so we get to jump forward in the story… We’re working on a season that has a really fresh look and feel."

Kang also noted that our favorite women who take down walkers could be featured more in season 9.

"We’re going to see some really great stories with the women in our show, particularly. And I think for people who are really invested in Michonne, Maggie or Carol, there’s such great material for them. For people who are looking for that specifically, they will see some really incredible work from our women."

With the recent news of Andrew Lincoln leaving, there is definitely room for his co-stars to grow. Norman Reedus is likely to be the new lead with his hefty contract in the works, but that doesn’t mean the fierce women we’ve watched for seasons can’t also step up to the plate.

Lauren Cohan easily deserves a powerful end to her story, as she is also departing The Walking Dead for fresh projects. Danai Gurira, who may eventually see her way off the show due to recent Marvel fame, easily needs more screentime. If season 9 kills off Rick, how will Michonne deal with that loss? Finally, we’d easily take more Carol, as her character has seen incredible development from her first episode to now. With her assassin-like skills, we wouldn’t mind seeing Captain Carol training a new army against potential new threats.

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

The Walking Dead will return this October, but fans can expect a few previews and news coming out of San Diego Comic-Con this July.