Following the credits of the action-packed Season 5 premiere of "The Walking Dead," the hit AMC zombie show revealed the return of a fan favorite character that was last seen in Season 3.
Lennie James' Morgan Jones, who last appeared in Season 3 Episode 12 "Clear," was revealed wandering in the woods in almost full riot gear. He seemed to be heading to Terminus, but abruptly changed his way after he stumbled upon the "Sanctuary for All" sign that Rick (Andrew Lincoln) changed to read "No Sanctuary."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Scott Gimple explained why they decided to re-introduce Morgan to the show.
"People want to follow that character; I want to follow that character," Gimple said of James' character. "There's a Morgan story to tell. It's the beginning of something, but I'm not going to say what it is, or how involved it is."
Morgan is the first survivor of the zombie outbreak that Rick met following his exit from the hospital, New York Post noted.
"Morgan disappeared from the comic for a long time and then he was in this back-up story with Duane - a Christmas story, which is really wild for 'The Walking Dead' - and then we didn't see him for a long time," Gimple said. "So it could even be in the manner of that. But there is more stuff to tell. It's the start of something."
Though Gimple did not say a word whether Morgan will appear again in the current season, he did confirm that the fan favorite character's return is only the start of a new journey.
"That definitely seemed like the start of something; he was on a path and his path changed," Gimple said. "Looking at him, how he's dressed, how he's acting - it's not a 42-minute episode there - but you get some hints about where he's at. I would look at that carefully."
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, comic book creator Robert Kirkman confirmed that Morgan is definitely on Rick's trail.
"Rick left him a map, so he knew roughly where Rick was, and it's clear that he's decided, 'Hey, you know, living alone in this horrible town is not for me. Maybe I do need to reenter society. Maybe I do need to find these people,'" Kirkman explained.
"And I like to think he got to that prison and was like, 'Wait, what's going on? Like, everyone's gone now?'" he continued. "So yeah, he's actually on their trail, and the Terminus thing is helping him hopefully stay on that trail. And it's certainly a question as to whether he'll meet up with them, or when he'll meet up with them, but we've got a lot of big plans for the character of Morgan, so stay tuned."