'The Walking Dead' season 9 spoilers: The most shocking exit yet

There will be yet another shocking exit in “The Walking Dead” season 9. The show is already grappling with a major death in the last season, and the future of Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is also unclear. Now, a new report reveals the end of another big character. The following article contains spoilers.

In what may come as a big blow to the fans of the TV series, Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) will be exiting the show in the next season, Collider reports. It is not clear how this will come about. Will Rick die? Will he just take off like Morgan Jones (Lennie James)?

Lincoln will reportedly be appearing in just six of the first eight episodes of the next season. Entertainment Weekly has also separately confirmed the news. AMC has so far refused to comment.

The TV series has already lost Carl (Chandler Riggs), who was expected to take on the future leadership position after his father. As previously reported, Cohan will also be appearing in just six of the first eight episodes, and it isn’t clear if she will be coming back for the next half of the season.

Since Lincoln and Cohan will not be appearing in the last two episodes of the first part of the season, episode 6 will be the one to watch with interest. This could be the transition episode for the show.

Apart from the changes resulting from the deaths and exits from the show, the other big change has to do with the executive producer. Angela Kang has taken over as the showrunner position from Scott M. Gimple.

Filming of “The Walking Dead” season 9 is currently ongoing. The show is set to air sometime later this year. The producers are yet to announce an exact release date. It will be interesting to see who will emerge as the main character of the show after Rick’s exit.