When The Walking Dead returns to AMC for Season 8 and its 100th episode, the tables will be turned, as Rick and Team Family will be far more aggressive in rising up against Negan and Team Saviors. And somewhere along the way, viewers will apparently see some pretty impressive flexibility on display, since the show is currently on the casting lookout for actors that label themselves contortionists. I quite love the wild assortment of scenarios that such a casting call brings to mind.
Here's the exact description for what The Walking Dead is looking for in casting these Season 8 parts, according to Backstage.
Contortionists (Background/Extra): Males & Females, 18-50Must be able to bend their arms and shoulders in various unique angles.
The first thing we can ascertain here is that we aren't getting a new main character whose claim to fame will be "the ability to make his arms look like helicopter propellors." The background/extra category is one that's generally befitting of the multitude of walkers that can be seen milling about and causing mayhem in and around the main communities. So what kind of wild zombies are we going to see in Season 8?
My first guess is the less likely option, all things considered, but one that I'd enjoy the hell out of. Remember that hellish carnival that Rick and Michonne stumbled across in Season 7? What if we get a reprise of that involving the "freak show" entertainment, where we'd see more agile and athletic walkers whose bendy-body skills weren't able to be reversed after death? So many disturbing visuals could come from a pack of roaming walkers with double-jointed shoulders and elbows.
However, it's more likely that the contortionists getting hired won't necessarily be playing undead folks who also identified as contortionists when they were still alive. Rather, we'll probably get to see a selection of walkers that are in extremely uncomfortable positions that a majority of people couldn't do. Maybe someone who's upper body is crammed inside of a box or other small space, or one with its arms awkwardly wrapped around a tree or pole. With the right angle, those kinds of visuals could look just as successfully off-putting as the gore-ridden walkers that have stood out in past seasons. (Especially if there's gore involved.)
It's equally possible that a new batch of rubber-armed walkers could be used to create a deliciously disgusting defense line along the fence outside the Sanctuary. Lots of ugly buggers are already out there, but you can never have too many. Or maybe Jadis would want to build a similar boundary around her junkyard crew, even though she looks like the kind of person who wouldn't give a shit about such things.
Whichever way it goes, The Walking Dead is arming itself for an All Out War in Season 8, which will kick off on Sunday, October 22, at 9 p.m. ET. Check out what Michael Cudlitz told us about a possible Season 8 appearance, and find out which Walking Dead actor wants to change up his character's looks. To see everything else that's heading to the small screen soon, head to our fall premiere schedule.
