If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, get your calendar out because I’ve got a very special date you need to keep clear. The hit zombie show just announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that season 9 is going to premiere on October 7th. Not only that, but AMC also released the awesome trailer you’ll see up above.
From what we can tell, the show’s moved on in a big way from the “All-Out War” arc of season 8, with a time jump taking us at least six months (probably more) into the future. It appears that Alexandria has been substantially upgraded in the intervening period and now includes the windmill familiar to readers of the comic. The setting isn’t the only thing that’s set to change in the season 9 though, as we already know that Andrew Lincoln is making this Rick Grimes’ last hurrah and ominously left the set after the first half of the season concluded shooting.
If Rick dies a gruesome death, it’ll be especially painful as, judging from the trailer, things finally look quite nice for the survivors. The clips in the trailer show a strongly fortified safe haven, complete with agriculture, effective zombie defence systems and demonstrate that everyone’s highly skilled in the fine arts of stabbing, spearing and crossbowing walkers to death. Then again, nothing ever stays pleasant in The Walking Dead for long, so if the walkers don’t get ’em then the interpersonal drama will.
I have to admit, the finale of season 8 made me wish that it was the finale of the entire show. After all, it’s gotten a teeny bit repetitive and the writers seemed to wrap up most of the dangling plotlines pretty satisfactorily. But if The Walking Dead can live up to what’s in this cool trailer, well, roll on October 7th is all I’ll say.