According to TVLine, Jon Bernthal is set to return to The Walking Dead as Shane Walsh during the show’s ninth season, an announcement that’s complicated somewhat by the fact that Shane has been dead since the end of the show’s second season. He came back as a zombie and everything, died again as a zombie, and then he came back again in the next season as a ghost (or “hallucination” if you think ghosts are too far for the zombie show). That means he’ll probably be returning as another hallucination this time, with his ghostly visage most likely appearing to Andrew Lincoln’s Rick one last time as he prepares for his own departure from The Walking Dead—a shocking twist that has already been spoiled by rumors.
Speaking of spoiling, a Walking Dead fan on Instagram helped ruin the surprise of Bernthal’s return by snapping a photo with him, Lincoln, sci-fi baby deliveryman Norman Reedus, and some kids who are far too young to be watching The Walking Dead in Georgia recently:
(That’s supposedly Bernthal hiding in the back.)