Last month,
The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan assured fans
she would be returning for the ninth season, telling
EW,
"There's a lot more Maggie story to tell." Well, her future in the show just got a bit more muddied as ABC has officially ordered to series
Whiskey Cavalier.
Lauren, who had been in midst of contract negotiations with AMC, had filmed the pilot for the hour-long action dramedy, though it was not guaranteed to go to series at the time. With ABC picking up the show for a full series, it means her role in
The Walking Dead could be greatly diminished; sources have reported that Cohan will return to Robert Kirkman's post-apocalyptic world for six of the eight episodes in the first half of season 9. Her future on
The Walking Dead beyond those episodes is in serious jeopardy now that she will star in
Whiskey Cavalier as Francesca "Frankie" Trowbridge.
The description for
Whiskey Cavalier reads:
Whiskey Cavalier is a high-octane, hour-long action dramedy that follows the adventures of tough but tender FBI super-agent Will Chase (codename: "Whiskey Cavalier"), played by Scott Foley. Following an emotional break-up, Chase is assigned to work with badass CIA operative Francesca "Frankie" Trowbridge (codename: "Fiery Tribune"), played by Lauren Cohan. Together, they lead an inter-agency team of flawed, funny and heroic spies who periodically save the world (and each other) while navigating the rocky roads of friendship, romance and office politics.
While this is fantastic news for Cohan, it means
Walking Dead fans should now be on edge regarding the fate of Maggie. Will the writers kill her off as they tend to do with everyone else on the show, or will Cohan continue to Cohan continue in a reduced capacity?
As the now-leader of the Hilltop community, a role which expands in the comics (although the show has often deviated from the comic series), it'll be interesting to see how
The Walking Dead 's writers deal with Maggie in season 9. Deadline
does report that Cohan has already been cleared to film
The Walking Dead during her hiatus from
Whiskey Cavalier, but would still need to negotiate a deal for any future appearances on the show beyond these initial six episodes.
Cohan is reuniting with
Walking Dead alum Tyler James Williams who plays a character by the name of Edgard Standish in the show.
Whiskey Cavalier also stars Ana Ortiz as Susan Sampson and Vir Das as Jai Datta. Dave Hemingson is the writer and is executive producing alongside Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold. Peter Atencio directed and executive produced the pilot episode.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC this fall, while
Whiskey Cavalier doesn't yet have a premiere date.