'The Walking Dead' Season 9 Synopsis, Key Art Released

We're a little more than a month away from the return of The Walking Dead, and AMC has finally unveiled the official synopsis for the new season, as well as a new look at the season's key art.

First and foremost, the art is about as bittersweet as it gets for Walking Dead fans. The new poster shows Rick Grimes standing against the backdrop of Washington D.C., looking ahead to his future.

Of course, this is troublesome when you consider the pending exit of Andrew Lincoln, who has starred as Rick for more than eight seasons.

Additionally, AMC revealed the synopsis for the new season, which teases an 18-month time jump after the finale, and a new world that Rick and the survivors are looking to build.

Check out the full synopsis below:

Last season brought the culmination of "All Out War," which pitted Rick Grimes and his group of survivors against the Saviors and their cunning leader, Negan. With Negan's life in his hands, Rick had a character-defining choice in front of him. By making the unilateral decision to spare Negan, Rick upheld the values his late son, Carl, championed in order to build for the future, but created conflict within his group.

Now, we see our survivors a year and a half after the end of the war, rebuilding civilization under Rick's steadfast leadership. It is a time of relative peace among the communities as they work together, looking to the past to forge the future, but the world they knew is rapidly changing as man-made structures continue to degrade, and nature takes over, changing the landscape and creating new challenges for our survivors.

As time passes, the communities confront unexpected obstacles, danger, and of course, walkers, but nothing quite prepares them for the formidable force they are about to encounter, which threatens the very idea of civilization that our survivors have worked so hard to build.

Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, "The Walking Dead" reigns the number one drama on television among adults 18-49 for the last six seasons. The series is executive produced by chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, showrunner Angela Kang, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse and Denise Huth.

Are you excited for The Walking Dead to return next month? Let us know by dropping a line in the comments below!

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. The Walking Dead returns for its ninth season on Oct. 7, 2018. For more updates and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!