A New Day Dawns for Rick in The Walking Dead Seaon 8 Teaser

Last season of The Walking Dead took a major emotional toll on us all. I don’t know if we can take losses like that again, but here we go.

The season 8 teaser just dropped, and it’s looking far more optimistic than the opening of the previous season. Any signs of positivity are difficult to believe on a post-apocalyptic show where half the characters have died over the show’s run, but the 15 second clip does not reach the depths of despair Rick and the gang faced in season 7. Judith is a toddler now, Rick has regained his confidence, and his rousing call to arms declares victory over the state of the world. It’s a very brief glimpse into where the characters are now, but we do see Daryl and his signature crossbow, so all is right with the world. If he dies this season, so help us.

We can’t really trust the beautiful sunlit background to Rick’s speech, unfortunately. The tagline to the video warns, “But what comes next ain’t gonna be pretty.” We don’t get any new shots of Negan, but he is facing off against Rick in promotional photos so it looks like it’s going to be an all-out war between the two. He’s wielding his trusty barbed wire bat, Lucille, which means there’s terror yet to come. Negan is horrifying and we cannot forgive him for anything he’s done, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan dominates that role and we’re glad to see him back. Great heroes are made greater by the worst villains in entertainment and Negan is the worst of them all.

Check out the new teaser and tune in to Season 8 on October 22.

Featured Image: Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead. Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC