EXCLUSIVE! 'The Walking Dead': First Look at Kickass Michonne and Why Season 6 Is the Most 'Intense' Yet!
We're going through walker withdrawals!
With less than a month left before The Walking Dead returns, we're currently waiting with bated zombie breath to reunite with Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl (Norman Reedus) and, of course, our personal favorite Alexandrian: Michonne (Danai Gurira).
We recently caught up with Katana-wielding badass at Comic-Con and got Gurira to spill why season six promises to be the most "unexpected" year yet, Michonne's current standing with Rick, and how her humanity has changed since entering Alexandria.
Plus, ETonline has your exclusive first look at Michonne's season six portrait and, somehow, she looks even more kickass than usual!
EXCLUSIVE: Has 'The Walking Dead' Cast Paul 'Jesus' Monroe?!
"It's intense," Gurira spilled of season six. "The one thing that keeps happening is we keep dying to read the next script! So we're just like 'Oh my god! Wow! Where’s the next one?!' We are dying to keep reading and finding out what happens next because it's just so intense, and so rich, and so unexpected, and it's really powerful stuff. The writers room is really outdoing itself right now."
Last season we saw Michonne secure her place as one of Rick's right-hand men, but she also wasn't afraid to step up -- and knock him out! -- when the situation warranted it.
"Michonne and Rick have really great intimate bond as friends and it's been growing really since season three. It just develops more and more and it's been tested in so many different ways," the actress said. "Then the fact that she stood up and said, 'We have got to go to Alexandria,' and then when she felt that he was doing something that could endanger himself and the group and be something that he could possible regret, she took ahold of the situation."
Gurira continued, "She's always had that power in her but she doesn’t exert it unnecessarily and that's what I find kind of astounding about her as a character, which is her ability to really step in in the exact right moments and the exact right ways."
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Looking ahead, Gurira revealed that Michonne will continue to struggle with accepting Alexandria's safety and staying true to her survivor roots. "She's navigating how to deal with this new world because when I did put my sword up, someone took it down and used it really badly. So I can't just put it away and explore other parts of my humanity when other people might take that power from me and misuse it, so she's in that real interesting moment."
Ready for even more TWD scoop? According to the official synopsis… Season six starts with Alexandria's safety shattered by multiple threats. To make it, the people of Alexandria will need to catch up with our survivors' hardness while many of Rick's people will need to take a step back from the violence and pragmatism they've needed to embrace. These reversals won't happen easily, or without conflict.
The synopsis concludes that "Rick's group is will fight for their new home at any cost, against any threat, even if that threat comes from within." Yikes!
Season six of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, Oct. 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.
Has The Walking Dead finally cast one of the comic books' biggest badasses?! Press play on our video below to see exclusive photos from the set and the mystery actor who could be playing Paul "Jesus" Monroe!