‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Spoilers, Air Date: Will Rick See Morgan Before Leaving? Lauren Cohan Explains Exit

More possibilities are popping up for “The Walking Dead” season 9, including the possibility of a Morgan (Lennie James) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) reunion. Meanwhile, Lauren Cohan reveals her reason for leaving the show.

Not all characters leaving “The Walking Dead” should die. For one, Morgan survived the war against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and later chose to leave her pals at Alexandria, which means leaving “The Walking Dead” as well. But James did not entirely leave the franchise; his character ended up in Texas and joined a new group of survivors. So the actor is now a regular in the spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead.”

However, a scene in “Fear the Walking Dead” season 4’s “People Like Us” showed that Morgan actually misses his old friends back on “The Walking Dead” set. This stirred rumors of Morgan coming back to “The Walking Dead” season 9.

That possibility for that to happen in “The Walking Dead” season 9 has not been quashed yet. In fact, James told ComicBook in a recent interview that details about his statement — actually calling Alexandria “home” — are “yet to be revealed.” “I think it's the first time that Morgan has ever referred to Alexandria, The Kingdom, Hilltop, even The Heaps or anything back there as being home,” James added.

While the chances of Morgan returning to “The Walking Dead” season 9 lingers, fans are more curious to see if he makes it in time before Rick leaves (or dies). On the surface, Morgan has never really shown much affection to other characters. But James explained how his character might feel if he learns that Rick is gone.

"I think it would be devastating," Lennie James said about what Morgan would feel finding out Rick is no longer around in “The Walking Dead” season 9. "For a long time now, since the loss of his wife and his son … Morgan's only proof that he's in the world has been Rick.”

“The only proof Morgan has that he is alive and in this world has been Rick. The only person who knows him is Rick, and so, in a weird way, wherever Rick is, is home,” James further explained. “And if he heads back there and Rick isn't there, then I think that very much rocks the foundations of who he is now in this world.”

In other news, there have been a lot of speculations on why Lauren Cohan is leaving his gig as Maggie in “The Walking Dead” season 9. But in a recent interview with the Associated Press, the “Mile 22” actress implied that one of the reasons is her desire to move on to new projects that are different from “The Walking Dead.”

“Eight years is a really long time to be in those emotional depths and it’s really fun for me because I never thought about drama as much when I started this career,” Cohan said. While Maggie is leaving in “The Walking Dead” season 9, it was also confirmed that her character will not die.

Meanwhile, the manner of Rick’s exit is still a mystery. But the creators can only promise fans that they will be treating it with respect. “The Walking Dead” season 9 premieres on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.