After about a year of speculation since she left during season 9 in 2018, Lauren Cohan finally announced earlier this month that she was returning to The Walking Dead as Maggie Rhee during season 10. We don’t know a lot more about the nature of her comeback just yet, but showrunner Angela Kang has teased that Maggie’s return will be of significance and tie into wider storylines.
Speaking on Talking Dead this Sunday, Kang offered a few hints about Cohan’s comeback, though she was careful not to give too much away.
“I don’t want to spoil too much about it, but we’re really excited about that Lauren’s coming back. We’ve been saying for a while that we have more stories to tell with her, and so, I’ll just say she comes in and there’s a lot of stuff going on. And there’s some stuff of significance that she does.”
It’s hard to say exactly what Kang’s alluding to here, but some long-held fan theories may just point us in the right direction. When Cohan exited the show off-screen, following the time-jump, it was explained that Maggie had left Hilltop with her son Herschel to help Georgie and her group establish a new community elsewhere. Going by the comics, this community may well be the Commonwealth, easily the largest settlement in the TWD universe.
It’s possible that Maggie’s return leads into the introduction of the Commonwealth, then. After all, its existence has already been teased, what with Ezekiel contacting a mysterious survivor over the radio at the end of season 9. This could lead to a whole lot of fresh material for the series going forward. Especially as it’s looking like Cohan’s role in season 10 won’t just be a guest spot but will set up her reinstatement as a regular in season 11.
Don’t expect the actress back on the show for a while yet, then, but there should be big things to come when she does return. For now, however, you can catch The Walking Dead season 10 as it continues Sundays on AMC.