A Major Walking Dead Player Is Back For The Final Season Teaser

The premiere of "The Walking Dead" Season 11 is nearly here, which means it's finally time for AMC to unveil the official trailer for the final season. The trailer arrives on the heels of a handful of first-look photos shared back in June. Both the photos and this new trailer focus on the events fans will see transpire over the first half of Season 11, which is set to premiere on August 22 (or August 15 if you're an AMC+ subscriber). 

Shared via TV Line, the trailer put a dramatic emphasis on the years-long journey all of "The Walking Dead" characters have been on since the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse, which occurred just before the start of Season 1. Over the course of two minutes, we see lots of footage from past seasons and are reminded of the characters we've lost, including Glenn (Steven Yeun), Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), as well as the characters who have survived, like Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Carol (Melissa McBride), Daryl (Norman Reedus), and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). In addition to seeing the faces of numerous characters who have helped propel the "Walking Dead" storyline forward, we get a glimpse at Season 11. 

One particularly tense moment involving Daryl stopping the group as they walk through a tunnel to listen for possible zombies looks like it might be pulled from one of the first episodes of Season 11. In another scene, members of The Commonwealth are seen tackling a character to the ground in a heated encounter. Through it all, we hear different character voices chime in to tell audiences, "No matter what we've faced or who we've lost, no matter where we've been or where we're going, whatever happens, we finish together."

The "Walking Dead" Season 11 trailer begins at the start which, as fans know, means it kicks off with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). The first half of the trailer takes us quickly through some of the biggest moments from the earliest seasons of the AMC drama. We see glimpses from events like Rick's first encounter with a zombie from Season 1, Rick leading his group to safety inside an abandoned prison in Season 3, and even see Rick on his knees in front of Negan moments before the bat-wielding villain kills Glenn and Abraham in Season 7. Throughout this trip down memory lane, the Season 11 trailer reminds us just how integral Rick has been to "The Walking Dead" franchise throughout the years.

With Rick featured so heavily in the Season 11 trailer, can fans expect to see him in the final season? With three solo movies for the "Walking Dead" hero on the way, it would make sense to connect the TV show to that spin-off project. While there's always a chance that Lincoln and "The Walking Dead" showrunners have a surprise in store for audiences, it's unclear if a final season appearance is in the cards. In April, Lincoln told SFX Magazine (via Total Film) that he had no idea if Rick was being written into the final season but that he "would never say never to that because everybody that's still doing the TV show are dear friends, and it's an extraordinary feat that they're still going."

Even if Rick isn't back for Season 11 is some capacity, it's nice to see "The Walking Dead" reminding us of whose journey this show started with. Luckily, fans will soon see how it ends when the season premieres August 22.