‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8 Promotes Three Actors as Series Regulars; Andrew Lincoln Confirms Series Picks Up After Rick Declares War on Negan

‘The Walking Dead’ season 8 has promoted three actors as series regulars. Meanwhile, Andrew Lincoln confirmed that the upcoming installment will pick up after Rick declared war on Negan and the Saviors.

According to Variety, Steven Ogg, Pollyanna McIntosh, and Katelyn Nacon have been promoted to series regular status alongside Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene, Danai Gurira as Michonne, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.

Ogg plays Negan’s right-hand man, Simon, and featured heavily during episodes that placed focus on the Hilltop. He terrorized the residents of The Hilltop and its leader Gregory (Xander Berkeley) on occasion as he collected money and supplies for Negan.

Meanwhile, Nacon plays Alexandria’s resident and Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) love-interest, Enid. She is the longest-running character among the three new series regulars. According to Collider, Enid was first introduced as a wandering and solitary survivor of the zombie outbreak who lost her parents. Enid and Carl got into a romantic relationship at some point in the series before she went on to spend more time with Maggie at The Hilltop.

Lastly, McIntosh plays the leader of the Junkyard scavengers, Jadis. McIntosh’s character, in particular, ended up betraying Rick by secretly aligning her group with Negan’s in season 7’s finale.

The much-anticipated season 8 of AMC’s horror-drama television series is set to pick-up after the exciting events of the final moments of season 7 – when Rick finally declared an all-out war against the Saviors. Rick and his Alexandrian allies will be joined by the communities of Hilltop and the Kingdom in the fight against Negan’s oppressive group.

According to the Independent, Lincoln confirmed this himself. He said, “[Negan] said, 'Boys, we're going to war,' or something like that. I mean I think that - I don't think we're that literal, but I think that there's a very strong chance that we're going to pick up where we left off. I don't think that that's breaking news.”

Showrunner Scott Gimple also teased during a previous interview, “It’s essentially for the whole world as far as their experience… It isn’t just their little corner. It’s the Kingdom and the Hilltop too. The Governor just wanted them dead. Negan would be happy if everyone was alive and well and working for him. There’s a very basic political idea at play here.”

Gimple continued, “They want to live in a fair world instead of having it just be Negan’s. To that end, that idea feels to me like the beginning of civilization is at stake, this new civilization they want to build rather than live this strange half-life serving a despot.”

‘The Walking Dead’ season 8’s renewal was announced last October 2016, just before season 7 was broadcast on AMC. Season 8 is expected to begin filming on May 2017.