If there are two things The Walking Dead is looking to push as the ninth season of the show advances towards us like a growling walker, it's that the end – however it happens – is nigh for Andrew Lincoln's turn as Rick on the show and that the post-war connection between the various communities might not be as strong as everyone thinks or hopes. Check out a lengthy new trailer below.
Season 9 is set around 18 months after the war with the Saviors and their charismatic, cruel leader Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) came to an end. With the former baseball bat-wielding dictator now cooling his heels in the clink, Rick and the rest have been busy building up Alexandria, Hilltop and the other outposts, dealing with crumbling infrastructure and dwindling supplies by turning to tried-and-true methods from the past for farming, construction and transport.
But as Negan cannily points out, Rick's presumed grip on the peace is not as firm as he might hope and while he sees humans as communal by nature, there is still plenty of room for conflict. And new threats will be rearing their heads before too long, to say nothing of the ever-present, lurking danger from the undead.
A supersized trailer feels fitting because of the show's extra-long premiere episode, due to hit US screens via AMC on 7 October, ahead of airing in the UK via Fox on 8 October.
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