walking dead

If there’s one constant on the televised version of ‘The Walking Dead,’ it’s change.  (To be fair, that’s a pretty standard constant in the comic-book version too, but that’s not what this article is focused on.)  Throughout each of the show’s first seven seasons, characters have died – some more heavily in screen time than others, some by zombie’s hands, and some in other fashions.  But it’s the one real constant in a post-apocalyptic tale: death.

Later this month, the award-winning show will return to the airwaves for its eighth season and its 100th episode.  Over the weekend, fans at the New York Comic Con were treated to a new clip from the upcoming season, and fortunately we now have that video to share with you!  The first episode is entitled “Mercy” – take a look:

 

“Rick and his group, along with the Kingdom and Hilltop, have banded together to bring the fight to Negan and the Saviors.”

The seventh season of the show was particularly brutal, with four main characters who didn’t survive the story lines (and interestingly, not a one was killed by zombies).  Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) were victims of Negan’s rage-induced batting practice with his barbed-wire-wrapped bat, Lucille; Spencer (Austin Nichols) was also killed by Negan, but in a separate incident, and mostly because he was a sniveling toady who tried to throw Rick under the bus; and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) killed herself in a ploy to reanimate and surprise-attack Negan.

The list of official “series regulars” is at a whopping 19 names.  The full roll call of actors and actresses includes Andrew Lincoln (Rick), Chandler Riggs (Carl), Norman Reedus (Daryl), Melissa McBride (Carol), Lennie James (Morgan), Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Danai Gurira (Michonne), Alanna Masterson (Tara), Josh McDermitt (Eugene), Christian Serratos (Rosita), Seth Gilliam (Father Gabriel), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Austin Amelio (Dwight), Tom Payne (Jesus), Xander Berkeley (Gregory), Steven Ogg (Simon), Katelyn Nacon (Enid), Pollyanna McIntosh (Jadis), and of course, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan).

‘The Walking Dead’ returns with new episodes on October 22, 2017, on AMC.