“The Walking Dead” has stolen the hearts of a lot of television viewers with their stunning character drama and the ever growing cast of eclectic characters. The show has already begun preparing for the eighth season after a turbulent seventh season, which will see the continued war between Negan, portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Rick Grimes, portrayed by Andrew Lincoln, with their own respective armies.
However, recently three actors on the show received big promotions which could be quite telling of the events to come. Conferred by TVLine, three actors on the show are now bumped up to series regulars for the eighth season, including Steven Ogg, Katelyn Nacon, and Pollyanna McIntosh.
It is important to have a right-hand man
Astute fans might recognize Steven Ogg's name from hits like “Better Call Saul,” “Westworld,” “Broad City,” and the fifth video game in the popular video game series “Grand Theft Auto.” On “The Walking Dead,” Ogg plays Negan's right-hand man Simon, who often terrorizes the militant Alexandria and the agriculture obsessed Hill Top Colony alike.
He became a more prominent character in the seventh season of the show, after debuting in the finale of season six, and it seems he will play a bigger role in the upcoming eighth season.
Romance is in the air
Katelyn Nacon, who plays Enid, has grown to be a more critical part of the show over the course of the last couple of seasons, with her romance with Carl Grimes, played by Chandler Riggs, and her growing role in Maggie's organization at the Hill Top Colony. A bump up to series regular means fans will be seeing a lot more of her character Enid, which is very exciting given how much the Hill Top Colony has changed since their inception on the television show.
Watch out for the filthy garbage people
Pollyanna McIntosh being elevated to a series regular is a huge deal as well. She plays Jadis, the strange-talking, greed oriented leader of the mysterious garbage people Scavengers who reside in the junkyard of trash and played a pivotal role in the seventh season finale. McIntosh being bumped up to a series regular means that Rick and his alliance will have a lot to worry about, aside from the issues they are already dealing with as a result of Negan and the Saviors. A lot of fans have speculated that Jadis and her people might be a villainous group from the comics known as The Whisperers and that fans are witnessing the evolution of the infamous group from the comics.
A ratings dips means more action
Regardless of their roles, fans can expect a lot more action out of the eighth season, as confirmed by show producer Scott M. Gimple, after a lackluster, slow-moving seventh season that saw the show's ratings take a large dip. Gimple confirmed that the eighth season will be different with a larger focus on the action that fans desired to see in the seventh season, such as the war between Negan and Rick. “The Walking Dead” will return this fall on AMC with a debut slated for October, and fans can expect a lot of major developments as the war between Rick's alliance and Negan's army rages on towards a conclusion.