First Walking Dead Season 9 Promo Image Reveals Rick’s New Look

For the best part of a decade, AMC’s The Walking Dead has thrilled its audience at San Diego Comic-Con with megaton announcements and nail-biting trailers, while also parading new cast members – like, say, Jeffrey Dean Morgan – in front of enthused fans.

But this year, The Walking Dead‘s SDCC will be bittersweet in that it’ll signal the beginning of the end for Rick Grimes and Maggie Rhee – Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan, respectively – who are poised to bow out of AMC’s zombie drama soon after season 9 kicks off. In his steed, Daryl Dixon will take over as the show’s leading man, and in anticipation of The Walking Dead‘s return to Hall H, Fox’s international account has seemingly unveiled the official promo image for the next run.

First spotted by ComicBook.com, the now-deleted Instagram included a dark and moody poster for The Walking Dead season 9, on which you’ll see that aforementioned trio looking to the distance. And behind them? Washington’s crumbling Capitol building that’s beginning to look a little worse for wear.

This could very well be some fan-made artwork from The Walking Dead‘s impassioned community, so treat this admittedly epic poster with heightened caution for now.

Of course, even if it is a fake, SDCC is right around the corner (two weeks, people!), meaning it shouldn’t be too much longer before AMC dusts off its hard-wired marketing machine and begins trumpeting the show’s ninth season – a ninth season that’s also carved out a small cameo for Jon Bernthal’s Shane Walsh, who’s expected to swing by Hall H for his official unveiling later this month.

The Walking Dead season 9 has its crosshairs trained on a mid-October premiere via AMC, and once we receive further details on what to expect, we’ll be sure to let you know.