The Walking Dead Season 9 Photos And Key Art Tease A Terrible Demise For Rick
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The Walking Dead Season 9 doesn't premiere until October, but a large batch of new photos from the first episode, showing what life after an all out war with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) looks like. Somehow, that life seemingly includes very few zombies but lots of personal drama.
The photos, which help tee up the final season for stars Andrew Lincoln (Rick) and Lauren Cohan (Maggie), give an idea of how many characters are moving on after the defeat of Negan and the Saviors. For Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira), it looks like things are rather peaceful. For Maggie, on the other hand, it looks like another battle is in the cards as she gathers her people. Whether that battle is with Rick over leadership of the group or with the rise of Negan's Saviors once again, as one of the photos teases, remains to be seen.
Then again, there are also images of everyone working together to achieve a greater good, so perhaps things will work out just fine in the new season. We're kidding, of course that won't happen. This is The Walking Dead, and nothing works out just fine. Carol (Melissa McBride) certainly seems to be trying, though, given what looks like a budding romance with Ezekiel (Khary Payton).
Along with the photos come cast portraits and key art for the new season, which paints a bleak future for Rick. In the key art, he is bathed in a bloody red light, foreshadowing a potentially terrible ending for the character by the time Lincoln departs the series. Interestingly, he's also wearing his sheriff's hat for the first time in a longtime.
The Walking Dead returns October 7. Once again, this will be the final season for both Lincoln and Cohan, with star Norman Reedus expected to step into a leading role. When speaking with GameSpot, Cohan made it clear that Maggie's story will be left open-ended, in case she can return to the series eventually. Lincoln, however, has made a point of noting this is the end of the line for Rick.