'The Walking Dead' Season 9 Air Date, Spoilers: Cast Reveal Sheds Light on Spoilers for Installment

Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes in ABC's “The Walking Dead,” has confirmed that he is about to leave the show. Lincoln expressed his joy at being part of the successful zombie apocalypse drama but has mentioned that his decision to leave has been mainly influenced by the desire to spend more time with his family.

Still, the show seems to be going strong with a new blood confirmation of Samantha Morton of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” fame being cast as season 9's main villain, Alpha. It will be interesting to see how the future of the survivors will be affected by the new character considering that the next season will take place after the long war between Grimes and Negan.

Executive producer Angela Kang confirms in an interview with TV Line that there will be a significant time jump when the show returns. The comics the show is based on had a three- to five-year time jump after the All Out War story arc between Rick Grimes and Negan. Kang confirms that while a time jump will happen in “The Walking Dead” season 9, it will simply be a timeline of two years rather than what's stated in the source material.

Rick Grimes will still be present for the show's season 9 but considering the news about Lincoln leaving the show, fans are left to speculate if Rick Grimes will make it out alive in the coming season. “The Walking Dead's” season 9 trailer shows a stronger community of survivors led by Rick Grimes, but the community seems to be beset by infighting. The trailer has yet to show how Alpha figures in the conflicts that will beset the survivors of “The Walking Dead.”

“The Walking Dead” season 9 will broadcast its premiere episode on Oct. 7.