Season 8 of AMC’s The Walking Dead finally has a trailer. Premiering at the Walking Dead panel at San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H, the trailer gives a decent look at every main character (who’s still alive) but opens with Seth Gilliam’s Father Gabriel trapped in a zombie-plagued, ramshackle house with none other than Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan. They worry, wait, plan, count the dead, but don’t really kill too many zombies. As with the past few seasons, it seems Season 8 will continue to focus on the battles between various groups of surviving humans.
“Those who take and use and kill — we end them!” Rick (Andrew Lincoln) says in the trailer. We’ve everything we’ve beaten, everything we’ve endured, everything we’ve risen above, everything we’ve become, no matter what comes next: we’ve won! We’ve already won!”
More images of fans’ favorite heroes beating up on bad guys and trying to make peace for themselves and their family are backed by a weirdly upbeat song. But the trailer’s overall positivity — perhaps a response to criticism that the show was bogged down by merciless cynicism for the past couple of seasons — isn’t the most unusual thing about it.
After everything is over and done and the Walking Dead title card has flashed across the screen, a soft-lit room and a walking cane pop up. Flowers and a clean bed fall away to show Rick, silver-haired with a long beard, lying among white sheets and looking utterly peaceful.
Perhaps this is a hint at a time jump for Season 8 and a look into a calm future for the heroes. Or maybe he’s just hallucinating.
Season 8 of The Walking Dead premieres on Sunday, October 22 at 9/8c on AMC.
