The Walking Dead officially renewed for season 9: Scott Gimple takes on TWD Universe

The Walking Dead renewed for season 9. Scott M. Gimple moves on to Chief Content Officer and the new showrunner is ready for next fall.

AMC’s The Walking Dead has been officially confirmed for a season 9 renewal, according to Collider. Scott M. Gimple said in the past few months that the war with Negan will be resolved at the end of season 8, according to Entertainment Weekly. So, it’ll be interesting to see how the series will continue.

Another tidbit of news includes Gimple taking on the role of Chief Content Officer of the entire Walking Dead franchise. This includes Fear The Walking Dead, too. Angela Kang will be be showrunning season 9.

When Jesus told Rick in Alexandria that his world is about to get bigger, he wasn’t foolin’. Could Gimple’s move to this new position be telling of a franchise expansion or a hint of things to come?

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Deadline reported last year that Kang had been with the series for 5 years (now 6). She joined season 2 as a story editor and had taken on the co-producer role in her fourth year with The Walking Dead.

AMC president Charlie Collier had this to say in regards to the change in a recent press release via Collider.

"“This is an enormously important day for the entire ‘The Walking Dead’ television universe. We are proud to acknowledge Angela’s significant contribution to the series and to set a clear path forward for a ninth season under her direction. Further, with gratitude and admiration, we also recognize Scott’s broad impact on, and leadership of, the content that fuels our TWD universe. Together, we will dream bigger and more broadly than ever before. I know I speak for Angela, Scott and everyone at AMC when I say thanks most of all to the fans and the many talented people who have helped AMC play ‘Dead.'”"

Collider continued on. The new Chief Content Officer mentioned how the world is entering into a “new era” of television. He acknowledged the risks involved when making changes. He also recognized the importance of keeping audiences excited and to continue the connection they have with the characters.

"“The Walking Dead’ is a special show which started in an entirely different era of TV, and continues, in this new era, to confidently take chances to tell compelling stories that excite audiences and make them deeply connect with its characters, adapting Robert Kirkman’s brilliant comic book.”"

There seems to be a focus on the future era of storytelling and Gimple sounds confident in that fact. He gave accolades to Kang in seeing her vision and to help aid her in the process.

Kang made a statement as well.

"“I am beyond thrilled to be stepping into this new role with ‘The Walking Dead.’ Working on this series and having the opportunity to adapt Robert Kirkman’s amazing comic has been a fangirl dream come true for me. I’m excited to continue working with Scott and the wonderfully supportive folks at AMC, and can’t wait to share the next chapter of the story with our fans next fall.”"

This is interesting considering how fans weren’t too crazy about how Gimple handled the mid-season finale to season 8. In fact, a petition on Change.org was created to bring back Carl and give Gimple the boot. Instead, he’s showrunning the whole franchise.

How do you think fans will react now to Gimple’s new station?

Next: TWD reunion no one is talking about

The Walking Dead still has some unfinished business regarding “old man Rick”. During the San Diego-Comic Con trailer, they showed a clip of him in bed with a grey beard. One of the episodes in this season revealed an extended, dream-like sequence possibly foreshadowing something. A time jump perhaps? A Weird Al song was playing in the background, so the satirical music choice will probably make this experience more memorable. Rick is also shown in a close-up a few times, moved to tears.

Could the aforementioned time jumps be tied to the war with Negan ending? What do you think?