With Andrew Lincoln and the producers confirming that the ninth season will be his last, it looks like the character of Rick Grimes is going out with a bang if this five minute-plus trailer is anything to go by.

As well as debuting this trailer at San Diego Comic Con this weekend, showrunner Robert Kirkman also confirmed that Samantha Morton would be joining the cast as Alpha, the leader of a terrifying cult known as the Whisperers. What do they do? Well, aside from being utterly merciless psychopaths who roam what's left of civilisation killing people at random, they also wear the skins of dead Walkers to hide among them.

So, y'know, a fun bunch of people altogether.

If you've been following the series since the start, the Whisperers have been teased here and there throughout and referenced as far back as the third season. The time-jump from the eighth to ninth season is shown in this extended trailer, as is the new settlements that are springing up following the collapse of Negan's group and all that happened afterwards.

However, there doesn't appear to be anything teasing Andrew Lincoln's exit, or Laurie Cohan's exit either - but then again, they can't give everything away.

'The Walking Dead' returns to US screens on October 7th with an Irish airdate expected pretty soon.