The Walking Dead season 8 might feature a big time jump and here's why

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The Walking Dead season 7 may have ended with dramatic events aplenty, but a bigger twist (ripped straight from the comics) is yet to come: There’s a very real possibility of The Walking Dead season 8 including a time jump of several years.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Scott M. Gimple opened up about the chance of the next Walking Dead season taking a big-time leap into the unknown: “For the people who read the comics, they're going to be expecting [the time jump],” Gimple says, “I will say there are things that happen in that time jump that are referred to that are super interesting. And thus we might see some of that stuff; it might not be the same sort of jump, or we'll do that two to five years in real time."

Two to five years of The Walking Dead dragging their feet (again) or a fast-forward to the cool bits? I know which I’d prefer.

Without getting into spoiler territory, the time jump in the comics comes after an incredibly climactic battle (one that looks to be on the horizon on the show) – and it would definitely make sense to want to get as much distance from that as possible.

But will the showrunners stick to the comics, especially after going different routes in the past to its comic book cousin? If nothing else, Gimple already knows the answer, but he’s keeping schtum: “We need to know these things and being able to know these things years in advance is what helps us make this show possible. So we've discussed everything."

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.