The cast of The Walking Dead have been routinely promising a sharp change of pace and lots of excitement and action to come in season 8, mostly in response to the oft-criticized slow-moving and unfocused season 7. The latest star of the show to speak up on the matter though is offering a much more intense description of the new run.
Danai Gurira – who plays fan-favourite badass Michonne – is claiming that The Walking Dead season 8 will be totally different from what’s come before.
“We don’t tend to tread the same ground twice. It is a deeply different season premiere — deeply, deeply different and unpredictable and very, very rich in the story that’s being told and powerfully acted and all of that.”
Elsewhere in the interview, she credited the writers of the hit AMC drama for ensuring that the narrative stays fresh and making sure the audience won’t be able to guess what’s coming.
“That’s what’s amazing about the writers of the show, is that they don’t tread the same ground. So you can’t be prepared for it. If you thought, ‘Well, I’ve seen this, I’ve seen that, so I can be prepared for what’s coming next’ — no, you can’t. You won’t be prepared.”
The actress then continued on by explaining how the events of season 8 blew her and the rest of the cast away. She promises that each major character’s storylines will be deepened, with a lot of human drama rung out of the various conflicts that’ll develop.
“It’s like nothing before. We’ve all been knocked clear off our feet, and there’s just so many ways everybody’s story is expanded and deepened and sharpened. And the clashes that we’re in take turns no one’s going to expect. And at the same time, it remains palpably human, you know?”
Finally, Gurira made one guarantee to the fans:
“It’s definitely a season that is going to knock everyone off their feet. That, I can guarantee you.”
That’s pretty high praise from the actress, don’t you think? Like we said before, this goes above and beyond the other statements the cast have been making. Gurira is really pushing the idea that season 8 will shock audiences at every stage, which is certainly intriguing to hear.
As we already know, the next batch of episodes will see Rick and the combined force of the various communities unite to take on Negan and his Saviors in an adaptation of the “All-Out War” storyline from the comics. One innovative element that will be introduced is the Old Man Rick scene teased in the season 8 trailer, which we believe will take the form of a flash-forward featured in the first episode.
Beyond that, we don’t know much else about what we can expect, but we’ll learn more soon enough, as The Walking Dead returns to our screens for its 100th episode on October 22nd.