You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? “All Out War”? It’s a gripping two-part comic from Robert Kirkman, founding father of The Walking Dead. And this weekend, AMC will bring the Internet to a standstill with the premiere of season 8.
Kicking things off with the super-sized “Mercy,” we now have an extended clip for Sunday’s opener, in which Rick Grimes addresses old friends and new allies. Galvanized by a renewed sense of hope, the communities of the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and the Alexandria Safe-Zone have set aside their differences to confront Negan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s bat-wielding maniac who has been causing havoc ever since the tail-end of season 6.
But after slogging through a difficult and somewhat bloated seventh season, The Walking Dead season 8 looks set to deliver the satisfying pay off fans so crave. With that in mind, expect this year’s instalment to close the book on Negan’s twisted reign, and make room for a few nostalgic callbacks in the process.
Circling back to this extended teaser, though, and we also get another peek at Carol, Tara, Daryl, and Morgan deploying a booby trap on a walker-infested highway, before Daryl speeds off on his trusty motorbike. And then, the footage cuts to the money shot: Rick Grimes delivering a speech in order to rally the troops. Different though they may be, The Walking Dead‘s core characters now have a common enemy, and it’s about damn time someone took Negan down a peg or two. Perhaps Daryl Dixon will be the one to exact revenge? We’ll find out very soon.
“That bigger world is ours by right. We’ve come together, all of us.” Bold words from Andrew Lincoln’s leader, and we can’t wait to watch AMC’s Rick/Negan saga unfold when The Walking Dead season 8 begins this Sunday, October 22nd.
