It has been confirmed that Danai Gurira’s Michonne will be leaving The Walking Dead after its tenth season, following a tumultuous ninth run that saw numerous big names leaving the show.

During season 9, we saw Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes leave the AMC zombie series (albeit with plans for a trilogy of spin-off movies) and Lauren Cohan’s Maggie Rhee also quietly departed (again, the door was propped open for a potential return, but Cohan went off to star in Whisky Cavalier for ABC).

In amongst the chaos, Norman Reedus was promoted to number one on the call sheet, and he also signed a big new contract spanning the entire Walking Dead universe. A similar deal was also signed by Melissa McBride.

And now, we know that Danai Gurira will be the next big name to depart The Walking Dead. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Michonne actress has signed a deal that will make season 10 her “final season” with the show.

THR’s report states that Gurira “will return in a limited capacity — described as only a handful of episodes — that will be interspersed throughout season 10.”

The report also notes that it is “likely” that Gurira will then “segue to the three Walking Dead movies that AMC is planning with former leading man Andrew Lincoln.”

It seems like a pattern is forming, then, with several of the show’s stars starting to favour the less-time-intensive movie projects over the actual mainline The Walking Dead TV show.

As we hear more about The Walking Dead season 10, and those Rick Grimes movies, we’ll be sure to let you know.