The Walking Dead: Trailer for part 2 of the final season

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Season seven of The Walking Dead came under fire when the premiere kicked off by revealing fan-favourite Glenn Rhee (played by Steven Yeun) had been killed by Saviour leader Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Nearly eight years later, the AMC drama’s new showrunner has admitted they considered introducing a new romance for his wife Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) for the final season.

Executive producer and showrunner Angela Kang revealed Hilltop survivor Alden (Callan McAuliffe) could have become Maggie’s new love interest.

Initially introduced as one of Negan’s Saviours, he eventually surrendered and joined Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) community.

In the premiere of the second block of the final season’s three arcs, No Other Way, Maggie returned for an injured Alden only to discover he had been zombified.

While they have become good friends since Maggie’s return to Hilltop, Angela revealed their storyline almost went in an entirely different direction.

TVLine asked her in their latest interview: “Was there ever any consideration of Alden becoming what Dante was in the comic books – a post-Glenn love interest for Maggie?”

In Robert Kirkman’s original graphic novels, Maggie eventually strikes up a relationship with fellow survivor Dante, portrayed by Juan Javier Cardenas in the TV adaptation.

However, the screen version of Dante was soon revealed as a spy for the Whisperers, who was planted in Alexandria to stir up paranoia.

Clearly, Maggie wouldn’t have started a relationship due to her absence in season 10 and his reveal as an antagonist, but could Alden have filled the position as Dante’s on-screen counterpart?

“You are actually completely right,” Angela confirmed.

“He was originally cast as a Dante-like character. Not Dante himself – we obviously used him in a different sort of context, as we do sometimes.”

Had Alden survived, he may have eventually revealed his feelings for Maggie and given her a second chance at happiness for TWD’s final season.

As the series stands now, Maggie is still grieving Glenn whilst she struggles to come to terms with Negan’s freedom.

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However, Angela confirmed if actress Lauren Cohan hadn’t decided to temporarily exit the series, Maggie’s allyship with Alden could have developed into something more.

“We changed gears at a certain point because Lauren left the show for a while,” she explained. “And we knew she was coming back at some point.

“But by the time she did, it felt like the characters had sort of evolved along different tracks than they would have if she’d been there the whole time.”

Lauren left the series due to reported salary disputes, in addition to her commitments to the since cancelled ABC drama Whiskey Cavalier.

Unfortunately, her return didn’t align with Angela’s initial plans for Maggie and Alden, as it was then decided to bring the ex-Saviour’s story to a sad conclusion.

Angela continued: “That happens frequently, like when one of our cast members takes a job and leaves the show or takes a hiatus.

“The storylines start to diverge from what our original intention was, so we sort of chase the new storyline.”

Fans have enjoyed seeing the series take some dramatic departures from the original comics, and season 11 will no doubt be full of many more surprises in the coming weeks.

The Walking Dead season 11 continues Sundays on AMC in the USA and is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK.

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