And if he is currently too busy to do the project that caused him to drop The Walking Dead, Heath’s return has as much of a chance of popping up in Alexandria this fall as Jack Bauer does.
But there weren’t very many creative decisions that went into it, since the character’s future was dictated by how much filming time Corey Hawkins could afford, thanks to the 24: Legacy pilot’s production, followed by the series order and so on.
The Walking Dead is known for changing up characters’ stories as they switch from the comics to live-action, and so that might have been a suitable enough reason for Heath to fall by the wayside when it comes to the central narrative, though not a great one.