Planet Earth has fallen into the cold, dead hands of the Walkers.
At least, that’s according to The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple, who recently warned viewers that in season 8, the world belongs to those undead flesh-munchers scattered across the globe. It’s a timely reminder, too, given how much of The Walking Dead‘s marketing campaign is often dedicated to the human conflict bubbling away beneath the surface, with the show’s eighth season poised to bring a sense of closure to the battle brewing between Negan and Rick Grimes.
War is (almost) upon us, then, but as Gimple points out, part and parcel of what makes The Walking Dead so special is the unrelenting zombies. They’re a constant source of danger, essentially, even if you can’t see them on screen. And though this year’s instalment will place a particular focus on the “all-out war” involving Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom, along with Negan and his Saviors, the Walkers won’t be given short shrift in season 8. In fact, that’s been made even more evident today thanks to a few new photos released by AMC, all of which can be seen in the gallery below.
Pretty disgusting, right? No details were made available along with the pics, but you can expect to see our beloved heroes going up against some pretty nasty Walkers this year on the show – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, it is called The Walking Dead for a reason.
As far as the human conflict goes, though, well, as we mentioned above, it’ll all revolve around the war that’s about to go down between Negan and Rick. Things will move a lot quicker, too, than last season, and earlier this week, Andrew Lincoln teased the following:
We move quicker and cover more story per episode than we’ve ever done. The stunts, the explosions, the special effects have all jumped up a gear… I think that this season is a payoff to last year…It’s really cool to be reclaiming Rick who has been so demolished emotionally.
Expect The Walking Dead season 8 to premiere via AMC on Sunday, October 22nd. And when it does, it’ll kick off with the extended “Mercy,” which also has the honor of becoming the show’s historic 100th episode.