The Walking Dead Releases First Look at Final Season Premiere

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) returns in the first photo from the epic Final Season of The Walking Dead. When the zombie drama returns with new episodes on August 22, it's with a two-part season premiere that showrunner Angela Kang teases will be "bigger than ever." In the wake of the Whisperer War and damage done to Alexandria by Beta (Ryan Hurst), "The stakes will be high — we'll see more zombies, tons of action, intriguing new stories, never-before-seen locations, and our groups together in one community for the first time, trying to rebuild what the Whisperers took from them."

After the six pandemic-proofed bonus episodes that told smaller stories tightly focused on a handful of characters, culminating in the Season 10 finale "Here's Negan," the expanded Season 11 launches this summer with "eight action-packed episodes that will feature the massive scope and scale fans have come to expect from TWD Universe," according to franchise chief content officer Scott Gimple.

Writer-producer Jim Barnes says The Walking Dead will be "getting back to a road show vibe" as Alexandria risks collapse and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) leads an expedition to discover a new community — the bustling civilization glimpsed in the first teaser trailer for Season 11.

"We're shooting [Season 11 episodes] one and two right now, it's a two-part episode, a two-part premiere. What can I say? It's going back to [being] scary, it's scary," Barnes previously told the Talk Dead to Me podcast. "We're making a concerted effort to put that back into, especially these first two or three, and actually all throughout [the season]. We're exploring things and doing things that I haven't seen done on the show before, which is really exciting. Just different set pieces and locations, and the fact that we're pulling it off during the pandemic is a testament to the crew in Georgia, it's incredible. It's big, I think I can say that."

The Final Season of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, August 22 on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.