The preview of the series’ eighth season — which clocks in at more than five minutes of footage — debuted during AMC’s crowded Hall H panel for The Walking Dead and companion series Fear the Walking Dead on Friday at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Like so much of the series so far, the events teased in the trailer are as gut-wrenching as they are compelling.
Picking up where season 7 left off, the trailer begins with some choice words from Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s brutal character, Negan, that serve as some helpful advice for audiences headed into the show’s eighth season. A war between Negan’s army and the united groups of survivors is looming and the trailer teases that impending clash with quite a bit of footage featuring some of the key players in the events to come.
Based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead follows the survivors of a zombie outbreak that has ravaged the country and the turned the world into a daily fight for survival, facing threats both undead and human at every turn. The AMC series is led by actor Andrew Lincoln’s former police officer, Rick Grimes, who attempts to lead the people who have put their trust in him to protect them.
Along with Lincoln, the series currently stars Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Josh McDermitt, Ross Marquand, Christian Serratos, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, as well as a massive cast of supporting characters (human and zombie). The series is executive produced by showrunner Scott M. Gimple along with Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, and Tom Luse.
The series is television’s most-watched drama for adult audiences in the 18-to-49-age demographic and was nominated in the “Best Television Series — Drama” category at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards. The series has won two Primetime Emmy Awards and received 15 nominations during its first six seasons.
The Walking Dead returns for its season 8 premiere October 22 on AMC.
