‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Trailer Sets up Rick Grimes’ Final Episodes

AMC released a new trailer for The Walking Dead season nine on Monday, teasing the last episodes starring Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes.

This trailer is the same as what audiences saw at San Diego Comic-Con in July. The only difference is a new slogan to make sire everyone knows season nine features “Rick Grimes’ final episodes.”

Lincoln is expected to leave The Walking Dead during the first half of the new season. A teaser released in August appeared to hint at how Rick might die, showing a walker approaching him, but Rick does not appear to be in a rush to get out of its way.

News about Lincoln’s plan to leave the show broke in May, and Lincoln confirmed the decision during SDCC.

“This will be my last season playing the part of Rick Grimes,” Lincoln said. “I love this show. It means everything to me. I love the people who make this show… I’m particularly fond of the people who watch the show. You people. This has been the most extraordinary, amazing, and beautiful experience of my career.”

The new season will also feature a brand new logo as The Walking Dead heads into another era.

“In previous seasons, the logo in the main titles was gradually decaying along with the world and the zombies in the show,” Angela Kang, the new showrunner on the series, told INSIDER earlier this month.

Kang explained, “The solid stone letters overgrown with greenery in the season 9 logo reflects the fact that we’re jumping into a new chapter of the story where our characters are rebuilding and nature is thriving — for better and worse.”

Rick is also getting a new look, with a buzz cut and a bushy beard. The new look is on full display in the new trailer.

“Everybody gets a little over-excited, I think, when people do a time-jump. You think, ‘How can I look different? Feel different? Scars. Hair color,’” Lincoln said during AMC‘s Walking Dead season nine preview special. “I mean, I’ve got no choice in the matter, I’m just going grey. I thought it would be a really good idea to cut my hair.”

The crew tried out another look, but when someone told him he looked “handsome,” Lincoln said they needed to change his look again.

“I went, ‘Rick Grimes does not look handsome, that’s not the point of what Rick Grimes is about. He’s a sheriff’s deputy from Atlanta, Georgia, he doesn’t give a f– about being sexy and good-looking. He’s an apocalyptic warrior who kills zombies for a living.’ Before I knew it, I was almost bald,” the actor said.

The season nine premiere will be longer than a typical episode, going from 9 p.m. ET to 10:26 p.m. ET on Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. ET. In the meantime, the next episode of Fear The Walking Dead airs on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 9 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: AMC