Greg Nicotero Directing 'The Walking Dead' Season 9 Premiere

The Walking Dead began production on its ninth season today, with its first episode back being directed by Greg Nicotero.

In a photo posted by the official AMC's The Walking Dead Twitter account, the executive producer's name is stamped on a slate used in production, crediting Nicotero as Episode 9x01's director. Nicotero has directed a slew of episodes for the AMC zombie show, putting his passion for horror films on display with several season premieres, finales and episodes in between.

Most recently, Nicotero directed the Season Eight finale which saw the All Out War saga finally coming to a close. He also kicked off Season Eight with the show's Episode 100, and was in charge of Chandler Riggs' final episode as Carl Grimes in the Mid-Seaosn Eight premiere. Other memorable episodes crafted by Nicotero include the unforgettable Season Seven premiere, the No Sanctuary-titled Season Five premiere known for the escape from Terminus, and Season Six's Now Way Out Mid-Season Finale which took Carl's eye.

While the AMC show won't change its stripes in terms of directors for the premiere (the last six have come from Nicotero), there will be some serious creative changes going on behind the scenes. As Scott Gimple shifts from his showrunner role into the gig of Chief Content Officer, Angela Kang will take his place and oversee The Walking Dead beginning with Season Nine.

"I'm very excited about Angela [Kang]'s tenure," Rick actor Andrew Lincoln told Comicbook.com. "She pitched the first eight a couple of weeks ago. I think we're getting the first episode today. There's a renewed vigor, vitality, energy, and just vision that's happening that is reminiscent, and certainly for me, of the pilot episode. There's a lot of things in there that I kind of dig that she's looking into. The things that I loved about the pilot episode, there's a few ideas in there that she's expanding and running with, which is very exciting."

While Lincoln has been the subject of debate in recent months as speculation had questioned whether or not he would stay with the show, the actor seems more than happy to stick with it if high-quality episodes can carry Season Nine and beyond.

"You keep writing episodes like that season finale, Episode 8x14 with Morgan, and a few other crackers," Lincoln said. "The scenes in Episode 8 and 9 last season, I'd be thrilled to hang around. I love the story and I love the characters that make up the story."

Still, Lincoln wants the show to have a proper sense of awareness, as approaches pouring nearly a decade of his life into it. "There's part of me that really wants to complete something," Lincoln said. "How long that takes? I don't know but certainly I really think the fans and my character deserves an end point as some time in the future."

The Walking Dead will return for its ninth season in the fall. Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.