THE WALKING DEAD Casts Danai Gurira in Pivotal Third Season Role

If you haven’t watched last night’s season finale of The Walking Dead, then stop reading this story immediately as it contains some spoiler action.

Everyone gone? Good. AMC has officially announced that Danai Gurira (of Treme and The Visitor) has landed the role of Michionne, the fan favorite character from the comic book on which the series is based. The character showed up last night on the season finale, likely to plenty of cheers and applause in viewers’ homes. It’s unclear just what’s going to happen in the series next season, even for those who have read the comics, but her arrival comes at a time when our group has been falling apart, and this should make for an interesting new dynamic. For a tease at what’s coming next season, we’ve embedded a video of the cast reflecting on the finale and what it means for our characters in the future. Check that out along with the full press release after the jump!

Here’s the video of the cast reflecting on the finale:

And here’s the press release:

New York, NY – March 18, 2011 – AMC has cast actress Danai Gurira (Treme/The Visitor) in the coveted role of Michonne in its original series, “The Walking Dead.” Tonight’s season two finale first featured the iconic character who will reappear in season three of the AMC series.  Michonne, a fan favorite from Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, is a mysterious woman armed with a sword.

“The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse, following a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home.  The series goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by walkers, where the interpersonal conflicts often present a greater danger than anything else and  over time, the characters grow willing to do almost anything to survive.

“The Walking Dead” received rave reviews from countless critics, both domestically and internationally. “Above all else, “The Walking Dead” hasn’t lost the most important ingredient in its strangely successful recipe: it’s thrilling” (The Hollywood Reporter). “…with Dead’s riveting cast of characters, the personal dynamics are almost as potent as the gory thrills” (US Weekly). “The Walking Dead is a feast.  Dig in.”(The Guardian- UK).   “It doesn’t even take three minutes to realize that this series is setting standards” (Der Tagesspiegel-Germany).

“The Walking Dead” secured a 2010 Golden Globe nomination for best television series and won the 2011 Emmy award for outstanding prosthetic make-up. It is executive produced by Glen Mazzara, Gale Anne Hurd, Robert Kirkman and Dave Alpert.