The Walking Dead EP Teases Rick’s Proper Preparations To Fight Negan

Alexandria’s current situation is kind of Rick Grimes‘ fault, whether or not you want to admit it. Had the leader of the Safe-Zone not acted with an inappropriate amount of confidence late in Season 6, nonchalantly signing his people up to kill Negan‘s Saviors, perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up getting them cornered in the Season 6 finale.

Maybe Abraham and Glenn would still be alive.

Well, it’s easy to look back and criticize the leader we all stand behind. Going forward, no one will be harder on Rick Grimes than Rick Grimes. Perhaps this is why he will be better prepared to take on Negan the next time the meet.

Executive producer of The Walking Dead Gale Anne Hurd recently opened up about the next batch of episodes which will see Rick’s group rise up and fight their oppressor’s for the first time since Negan’s introduction.

“Rick and the gang have found their mojo again and they are going to work on rising up against Negan, and doing it right this time,” Hurd said. “As we saw last season, they underestimated his strength and just how nefarious a leader he was. They’re not going to do that again.”

Based on the synopsis for the back eight of Season 7, The Walking Dead’s fearless leader is going to be rallying a bit of help for the war ahead.

The official synopsis reads:

Rick’s group will find out yet again that the world isn’t what they thought it was. It’s much bigger than anything they’ve seen so far. While they have a singular purpose – to defeat Negan – it won’t come easy. More importantly, victory will require more than Alexandria. They need the numbers of the Kingdom and the Hilltop, but, similar to how Rick felt, Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Gregory (Xander Berkeley) do not want bloodshed. To convince them otherwise will take more than speeches. The lengths Rick and the group will have to go to in order to find weapons, food and new fighters is nothing short of remarkable.

We’ll meet new survivors in incredible places. We’ll see Rick and the group tested in ways we’ve never seen before. We’ll see treachery from people we trust.Rick is confident as he will see his group and many others band together with the common goal of taking down Negan.But no amount of planning will prepare the group for all-out war with Negan and his army.

Season 7B will be drastically different than Season 7A according to showrunner Scott Gimple. “I will say 7B’s vibe is very different from 7A’s vibe. The ending of 7B is very different than the beginning of 7A,” Gimple told ComicBook.com. “Just the vibe in 7B, I was just talking about it with Andy [Lincoln] last night. It’s just a very, very different half season than the half season that preceded it.”

Perhaps the differences are what made Andrew Lincoln punch the air and do a little dance upon reading the Season 7 finale’s script.

MORE WALKING DEAD:

Andrew Lincoln’s Epic Reaction To Season 7 Finale / New Season 7B Key Art / Violent Takes Were Removed From Midseason Finale / Best Moments of 2016 / Negan Featured in #162 Preview / Five Worst Storylines / Who Will Be The Next Major Death? / AMC Stock Takes Hit With TWD Ratings Drops / Spoilers: How Will Season 7 End?

The Walking Dead returns for the rest of its seventh season on February 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead‘s third season does not yet have a premiere date but with The Walking Dead finale set for April 2, expectations for Fear‘s return are set for April 9. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

(via Digital Spy)