Capping off a busy, busy week for The Walking Dead – banners, high-res images, and promises of resolution, to name but three – AMC has today rolled out an all-too-brief promo that essentially lights the fuse for season 8.
Clocking in at only 30 seconds in length, don’t expect much in the way of story, but we do see a number of crowd-pleasing shots of those three primary factions – namely Alexandria, the Kingdom and the Hilltop – cobbling together in the face of a common enemy.
That adversary is, of course, Negan, the demented, power-hungry maniac who ruled over most of The Walking Dead season 7 with an iron fist. And a custom-made baseball bat known as Lucille. Having gained the support of his equally crazy Saviors, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s big bad will be a difficult one to topple, though earlier this week showrunner Scott Gimple reaffirmed that season 8 will bring a sense of closure to the all-encompassing war about to kick off on October 22nd.
The future is up for grabs, then – or what’s left of it – and up above you’ll see fan-favorites like Maggie (Lauren Cohan) rallying the troops. Also of note, it’s been confirmed that The Walking Dead season 8’s premiere will merely reference that contentious “Old Man Rick” scene, before delivering a firm answer later in the year. And no, Rick Grimes isn’t in a coma – a scenario that would’ve reduced the past 99 episodes to some haunting, unforgettable fever dream. Besides, given the hype and excitement that AMC has generated for episode 100, we struggle to believe that Gimple and Co. would pull the rug out from underneath us.
The Walking Dead season returns with a super-sized instalment on October 22nd. Look for TV’s biggest series to air via AMC in the States, while those across the pond can expect TWD to shuffle onto the small screen on Monday, October 23rd.