The Walking Dead casts Paola Lazaro as fan favorite Princess

At New York Comic-Con, The Walking Dead announced that Paola Lazaro would join the cast in season 10 as Princess.

There were a couple of pieces of big news revealed at The Walking Dead’s New York Comic-Con panel, and one of them was that Latinx actress and playwright Paola Lazaro will join The Walking Dead as “Princess” Juanita Sanchez.

Paola Lazaro was born in Puerto Rico but came to the U.S. to study. She has a BFA in dramatic writing from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from Columbia University. There are several other Walking Dead actors who have a background in theater, like Tony-nominated Danai Gurira, who is a prolific playwright, and Lauren Ridloff, who was nominated for a Tony award for her performance in Children of a Lesser God.

Lazaro hasn’t had a lot of major roles. She’s appeared in the TV show SMILF and in the TV version of Lethal Weapon, but her upcoming role on The Walking Dead will be a major one if Princess’ arc in the show is similar to her arc in The Walking Dead comics.

In the comics, Princess is a tough but cheerful survivor. She prefers to be alone rather than live around others and has spent most of the apocalypse by herself by her own choice. While she is colorful and sometimes childlike in her behavior, she is a tough-as-nails survivor who knows how kill walkers and protect herself from humans.

What this means for The Walking Dead story arc

The announcement that Princess will arrive in TWD world sometime in season 10 is a good indication that the highly anticipated Whisperer War won’t drag on the way that some people felt All Out War did.

In the comics, the group of survivors meets Princess as they journey to find the Commonwealth, a large society that Eugene came into contact with over the radio. The announcement that Princess has been cast and will appear in season 10 indicates that the Whisperer War will definitely resolve in season 10 — and that by end of season 10 the group may have their first contact with Commonwealth.

It also opens the door for a possible exit route for Danai Gurira, who is leaving The Walking Dead in season 10. There’s been a lot of speculation about the way that Michonne would be written out of the series and whether or not she will join Rick Grimes in the feature films that are coming.

An exit for Michonne?

If Princess is arriving in season 10, it’s very possible that Michonne will exit the series by staying at Commonwealth — or by finding some clue that Rick is alive at Commonwealth and going off on her own to pursue that lead while the others, including Princess, return to Alexandria. If the arrival of Princess is setting up Michonne’s exit, it would be a big relief for fans who want to see Michonne reunite with Rick rather than having the character killed off.

But first, the survivors have to figure out how to beat The Whisperers. And Alpha’s not going to be an enemy that’s easy to defeat. Season 10 of The Walking Dead has started, so tune in on Sunday  nights to see what happens as the communities go to war against Alpha and her undead army.

The Walking Dead airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.