That show is bringing Lennie James’ Morgan into its Season 4 storyline, which is yet another departure for the character.
One reason why that might very well be the case is Angela Kang, who will be taking over as showrunner for Season 9 and presumably beyond, with Scott Gimple getting boosted upwards to oversee the Walking Dead brand.
At this point, though, perhaps the creative team has grown weary of matching story beats and taking flak for big decisions, and they want to do something more like what the Fear the Walking Dead writers have been able to do.
The comics introduced a time jump following the All Out War, hopping back into the survivors’ stories at a more peaceful time for most, with the next big threat being the creepy-as-all-the-hells Whisperers.