‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Rumor: Michael Cudlitz Will Return, Just Not In Front Of The Camera

For those who adored the character of Sgt. Abraham Ford in AMC’s The Walking Dead, get ready for the actor’s return! However, Michael Cudlitz will be returning in a directorial role and not as the much-loved Abraham.

After three seasons as the popular Abraham, tasked with getting Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt) to Washington, the character was killed by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Many fans were devastated by the event as the character was much-loved and added many interesting terms to the vernacular of The Walking Dead.

However, according to The Wrap, Michael Cudlitz will return in Season 9 of The Walking Dead to make his directorial debut on the show. According to the report, “a person with knowledge of production” on The Walking Dead revealed this information to The Wrap recently. It was also revealed that Michael Cudlitz is expected to direct one episode — Episode 7 — of Season 9 of The Walking Dead.

However, no official statement has been made by AMC yet in regard to this claim, so it is likely viewers will have to wait until Season 9 premieres to find out for sure whether this news is correct or not.

While fans still don’t know when the Season 9 premiere date of The Walking Dead will be, it is expected the return date will be announced during The Walking Dead‘s panel at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

AMC has also released the following information in regard to the San Diego Comic-Con Walking Dead panel.

“The panelists include cast members Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, along with executive producer and showrunner Angela Kang, executive producers Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, and executive producer, director and special effects make-up supervisor, Greg Nicotero. The panel will be moderated by Yvette Nicole Brown.”

The panel will take place from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Friday, July 20, in Hall H.

Along with the potential news of Michael Cudlitz returning to The Walking Dead, a new cast member will be joining Season 9 of the hit zombie apocalypse series. According to a previous Inquisitr article, Season 9 of The Walking Dead will also get its first deaf character. Lauren Ridloff, who is deaf herself, will play a character called Connie. It is not yet known in which Season 9 episode this character will be introduced. However, it is likely this character will be based on the character of the same name from the comic book series on which AMC’s The Walking Dead is based.

Season 9 of The Walking Dead will premiere on AMC later this year.