Swing away! The Walking Dead won’t be back on the air for another few months yet, but those of us who’ve been going through serious zombie withdrawal just got thrown two very juicy bones from the folks at San Diego Comic-Con: an official air date for the season 7 premiere, and a teaser trailer that’s got us more desperate than ever for that day to arrive.
Mark your calendars, gang: The Walking Dead will return on AMC Sunday, October 23, at 9 p.m. ET.
The Walking Dead panel has been one of the biggest events at SDCC for years now, but the hype is exponentially more intense this time around thanks to last season concluding on the biggest cliffhanger in the history of the series. In this season 6 finale, one major character took a deadly beating from the show’s newest lunatic, the infamous, barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat-wielding Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
Needless to say, the identity of the victim is still a mystery — although one the showrunners have promised to resolve right away, as the new season’s first episode will pick up exactly where the finale left off. And the trailer reminds us exactly where that was, and what’s at stake, as it opens with misty water-colored memories of all the characters (and OMG, it’s, like, EVERYONE) who might be coming back only long enough to say a bloody goodbye.
Meanwhile, the trailer offered a major peek at one of the new settings to come this season, as well as a character from the books who’s making his much-anticipated debut. Watch above for your first glimpse of Ezekiel (played by newcomer Khary Payton), the grand high poobah of a never-before-seen community of survivors known as The Kingdom.
If Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is looking for a powerful ally against Negan, this guy might be the ticket; not only does he clearly command the resources to launch a serious comeback, but he has a pet tiger on a leash.
The season 7 promo is above. The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 23, at 9 p.m. ET.
Tell Us: What do you think of the trailer?
