Promo For Next Week’s Walking Dead Teases First Episode Without Rick

And there you have it. The final episode of The Walking Dead to feature Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes has now aired. We’ve known about the actor’s departure for a few months now, but it’s still hard to imagine the show that he’s carried for nine years going on without him. But carry on it must, as we’re only just over a quarter of the way through season 9 and there’s lots to come yet – as the promo above can attest to, which teases not only next week’s episode, but the two after that as well.

The first outing of the post-Grimes era of TWD though is fittingly titled “Who Are You Now?” and, going by the synopsis, it’ll introduce a bunch of new characters to freshen up the show following its recent major loss.

“The survivors encounter unfamiliar faces outside the safety of their community’s walls and must decide whether or not this new group can be trusted.”

The new group arriving in episode 6 has already been revealed, of course. Based on characters from the comics, they’ll consist of Magna (Nadia Hilker), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory) and, last but not least, Luke (Fantastic Beasts star Dan Fogler). The synopsis suggests that the group won’t be trusted at first, which mirrors the source material, though we’d expect them to prove to be allies in the long run.

Rick Grimes may be gone, but clearly there’s a lot of life left in The Walking Dead yet. Star Norman Reedus recently teased that the rest of season 9 will be “epic,” while producer Greg Nicotero told us that upcoming villain Alpha (Samantha Morton), leader of the Whisperers, will prove to be the show’s greatest villain to date. And it all kicks off when a new age of The Walking Dead begins next Sunday, November 11th on AMC.