When someone is talking about a “right hand man” around New York City these days, there’s a very good chance that they’re quoting Lin-Manuel Miranda’s incredibly popular musical, ‘Hamilton’. However, when ‘The Walking Dead‘ descended upon Madison Square Garden over the weekend, the phrase took on a whole new meaning that may or may not result in the acclaimed zombie drama bringing another iconic moment from Robert Kirkman’s long-running Image Comics series to the small screen.
During their New York Comic Con panel this year, the cast and crew of the popular AMC series unveiled a brand new clip from the upcoming seventh season. Taking place shortly after that sinister cliffhanger ending from Season Six, this sneak peek picks up with Rick, who has some fresh blood splattered on his face. Though we can hear how clearly shaken his companions are, our hero makes a promise to the leader of the Saviors. It’s then that Negan starts talking about a right hand man and how he may or may not have just taken Rick’s away from him. Although, that might not be all that he takes away. Check out the clip below, followed by the official synopsis of season seven:
Up until this point, our characters have lived through conflicts… Disease, hunger, scores of the undead, tragedy, betrayal, and unthinkable loss. Through this, they’ve become formidable. Powerful. Unstoppable.
To start Season Seven, that power is taken away. They had found safety and stability. They had created a home. They thought the world was theirs. They thought they knew the world. They were wrong.
The first half of Season Seven sees our group fractured, broken, bereaved, and picking up the pieces while living under the thumb of oppression. Negan will have successfully brought the survivors under his control, brutally convincing them to live under his rules with a deadly and horrific example of what happens if they don’t.
Other characters are unaware of what’s happened, but have become separated from the group either by incident or choice — they will learn that they can’t escape this new turn of their world, either. This half season is about these characters starting over.
The overall theme of the season is beginning again. The world isn’t what they thought it was. It’s bigger and it’s even more dangerous.
Long-time readers of Kirkman’s comic may recall that Rick lost his hand to The Governor. However, when it came time for that to happen in the show, Andrew Lincoln’s protagonist kept the limb. Could this video indicate that that moment from the source material was simply pushed back, despite the writer expressing his regret for cutting off his main character’s hand in the past? Or maybe the live-action version of Negan only severs a finger or two? Either way, I don’t anticipate that trip to the trailer being a positive one for Rick. So as we anxiously wait to see if he comes out in one piece, let us know what you think about this glimpse into ‘The Walking Dead’ Season Seven in the comments below.
‘The Walking Dead’ returns to AMC on October 23rd, 2016 at 9:00pm.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
