‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8 Scripts Arrive, And New Cast Regulars Are Announced Ahead Of Filming

While Season 8 of AMC’s The Walking Dead may still be a while away, especially since Season 3 of its companion program, Fear the Walking Dead, hasn’t even started yet, it doesn’t mean there is no news about it. Already, cast members are starting to drop a few vague tidbits about TWD Season 8.

SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Season 8 of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Moving forward into Season 8 of The Walking Dead, three cast members have been promoted to regulars, meaning, in theory, we will be seeing a lot more of them. According to TVLine, Steven Ogg, Pollyanna McIntosh, and Katelyn Nacon, are all now listed as regular cast members.

Steven Ogg plays Simon, a member of the Saviors. Considering that Season 7 saw him and Gregory (Xander Berkeley) speaking about the leadership at Hilltop, and Gregory mysteriously disappearing right before all hell broke loose in the Season 7 finale, Simon’s upgraded role could be involved in this new storyline. However, Season 8 of The Walking Dead is already gearing up to be the equivalent of the all-out war from the comic books, so it is just as likely Simon will be promoted on account of his direct involvement with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and the Saviors.

Pollyanna McIntosh is a relatively new cast member, having only joined in the second half of Season 7 of The Walking Dead as a character called Jadis. Her new group, which is still, basically, nameless, but are being referred to as the junkyard group, agreed to assist Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) to overthrow Negan’s group. However, Jadis double-crossed Rick’s group, siding instead with Negan. While her group seemed placed specifically for this storyline involving Rick and Negan, it seems AMC wishes to further explore this new group that doesn’t exist in the comics moving forward into Season 8 of The Walking Dead.

Katelyn Nacon plays Enid, a member of Alexandria, Carl’s friend, and his budding love interest. Bumping Enid up to cast regular actually feels a little overdue considering she has been around for a while now. However, for those who have shipped Carl and Enid, this promotion could bode well for the pair.

Speaking of Carl, the actor who plays him, Chandler Riggs, has just managed to get his hands on the first script for Season 8 of The Walking Dead. As was confirmed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who revealed to Digital Spy that filming for Season 8 will commence at the end of this month, likely on Tuesday, April 25. However, at that stage, scripts had not been sent out to cast members for Episode 1 of Season 8. Jeffrey had teased, at the time, suggesting that he or Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) might die in Season 8. Relax, he was only joking. Or, so we assume.

Chandler, however, has just received his copy of Episode 1 recently and took to social media to let fans know what he thought of the newest script.

just finished reading 801 of twd and oooo man it's good

— chandler riggs (@chandlerriggs) April 19, 2017

Of course, this gives absolutely nothing away about what happens in Episode 1 of The Walking Dead Season 8. And, let’s face it, Chandler probably has to love the script; it’s his job after all. However, considering how much Season 7 improved with its finale episode compared to the rest of the season, let’s hope he’s telling the truth about the upcoming season. For fans though, Season 8 of The Walking Dead is still a very long way off with its predicted October start.

What do you think will happen in Season 8 of The Walking Dead? Let us know your thoughts and theories by commenting below.

The Walking Dead will return to AMC with Season 8 in the fall of 2017.

[Featured Image by Gene Page/AMC]