With AMC's hit zombie series The Walking Dead getting set to delve into the iconic All Out War comic book arc, the network has bumped three recurring actors up to series regulars. Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays the Scavengers leader Jadis, will be a series regular in The Walking Dead Season 8, along with Steven Ogg, who plays Simon, one of The Saviors, and Katelyn Nacon, who plays the Alexandria survivor Enid. While both Jadis and Simon were introduced this past season, Katelyn Nacon has appeared in 18 episodes as Enid, since Season 5.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that this brings the show's tally of series regulars up to 19, just one shy of last year's record of 20 regulars. Last season, the show killed off four series regular characters, Steven Yeun's Glenn and Michael Cudlitz's Abraham Ford in the Season 7 premiere, Spencer Monroe (Austin Nichols) in the midseason finale, and Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin-Green) in the Season 7 finale. It isn't ultimately clear if the show plans on promoting any more actors to series regular status.

The remaining series regulars include Andrew Lincoln (Rick), Chandler Riggs (Carl), Norman Reedus (Daryl), Melissa McBride (Carol), Lennie James (Morgan), Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Danai Gurira (Michonne), Alanna Masterson (Tara), Josh McDermitt (Eugene), Christian Serratos, (Rosita), Seth Gilliam (Father Gabriel), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Austin Amelio (Dwight), Tom Payne (Jesus), Xander Berkeley (Gregory) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan). Over the past few seasons, many of the characters have been spread out at different communities throughout the season. However, showrunner Scott M. Gimple teased there will be many more episodes in Season 8 like the Season 7 finale, where all of these characters are seen together.

Shortly after the Season 7 finale, Scott M. Gimple teased that Walking Dead Season 8 has a much quicker pace and is much more intense than the previous season. While this season will most certainly follow the All Out War comics, the showrunner wouldn't confirm if this two-volume arc, which spans 12 comic issues, would be told through the first half of Season 8, or over all 16 episodes, although the latter seems much more likely. An action-packed season like this could be just what the show needs, after suffering a big ratings drop, with the season finale the least watched in five years. There could also be another interesting creative decision that is on the horizon for the show.

After the All Out War comics arc, the story surprisingly jumped forward two years in time, during which all of the warring communities had remained at peace. Scott M. Gimple confirmed there would be a time jump, but he added that there are a number of interesting things that happened during this two-year span, including Michonne (Danai Gurira) suffering from a rough breakup with King Ezekiel (Khary Payton). Of course, on the AMC series, Michonne is romantically involved with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), so perhaps that relationship may be coming to an end on The Walking Dead.