The Walking Dead showrunner teases the end of winter, new baddies

Even though The Walking Dead wrapped up its ninth season this past Sunday night, there's already talk about what they'll do to follow up the snow-covered finale.

The talk comes from showrunner Angela Kang, who took the reins from Scott Gimple last year. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kang teased some details about the upcoming season, which will premiere on AMC sometime in October.

"Things are going to pick up with a little bit more of a time passage, not a giant one like we’ve had, but winter will be over and people will be going to be in a different emotional space," Kang told EW. "There’s other stuff in where I’m like, I must be psychotic because let’s just do more stuff we’ve never done on this show that feels impossible. That’s part of the fun of the show."

Kang's adventurous outlook reflects what series star Norman Reedus said last week about his boss, calling her "very punk rock," and praising her for her willingness to take risks.

She also spoke about the latest threat facing the group, the zombie-skin-wearing Whisperers, who've taken out some prominent characters since they first revealed themselves in Season 9. While they'll remain in play, there's also the ominous voice heard on the radio in the final seconds, which she said will definitely factor into what's coming.

"There are some problems to be worked out with the Whisperers, these crazy neighbors that come in and out and cause chaos in their world," Kang continued. "That’s something to play out, and obviously there will be other storylines that are kind of intersecting with all of this. It’s always fun to have more than one thing going on at once. We’re having fun working on the pieces of this season, so hopefully it will go well. I’m knocking on a lot of wood."

Since taking over last season, Kang has overseen a lot of changes to AMC's long-running zombie soap opera, including a couple of time jumps, a revolving door of new characters, and the loss of its protagonist, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). Having already carved out her own distinct voice during her tenure, it'll be interesting to see where the series continues to go under her guidance.

We won't find out until The Walking Dead returns sometime this October. In the meantime, there's a new season of Fear the Walking Dead that kicks off on June 2 to tide us all over.