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We’re just over a month away from the 4th season debut of TV most popular series, The Walking Dead, which will debut on October 13 at 9pm. It’ll be a 16-episode season, divided into 2 halves.

I’m excited, especially given that this upcoming season is still something of a mystery. The show’s producers have already told us that we can expect even more of a dramatic deviation from the original source material. Although they added that there will possibly be some scenes that are a little bit closer to the comic than they’ve done in the past, adding that season 4 will likely contain the most number of scenes that are direct adaptations from the comic series.

One thing that has been guaranteed is that Tyreese (Chad Coleman) will come into his own this season, and will more closely resemble the character from the comic book that fans have been asking for.

Also, there’ll be 4 black series regulars this time around (Lawrence Gilliard Jr. joins the cast, playing a character named Bob Stookey), so, maybe it’s only natural that we should expect that at least one of them will die… or maybe not. Maybe we’ll be surprised this season!

We’ve been told to expect an even more character-driven series under new showrunner Scott Gimple. Kirkman added that, in the coming season, the series will delve deeper into the lives of the show’s key characters, bringing the audience even closer to them, so that when any of them is killed off, viewers feel the loss even more.

By the way, season 4 will begin with a time jump. The first episode won’t say exactly how much time has passed, but audiences will know that some time has passed since the end of season 3.

The Governor is still in play, although we were told that we’re going to see him in a new light and he won’t appear until we least expect, and that he’s going to be “radically different.“

And finally, and maybe of most interest to a lot of you folks, we were told that Michonne (Danai Gurira) would have a lot going on with her this season, after Andrea’s death, and that she’ll be on a mission to hunt down the Governor. Creator/producer Robert Kirkman did let it slip that Michonne’s relentless focus on taking out the Governor, “is something that may possibly be to her detriment.” Uh-oh. Is he hinting at something there? I certainly don’t think Kirkman would be so foolish as to give anything so major away in a pre-season interview. But, naturally, one must speculate. He also suggested that Michonne’s dedication to finding the Governor may conflict with what Rick (Andrew Lincoln) has planned for the group.

Still alive and returning next season will be regulars Andrew Lincoln, David Morrissey, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, Melissa McBride, Chad Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green and Emily Kinney.

A new 4-minute extended preview of the upcoming season has been released and is embedded below. It presents more questions than it does answers, the revelation that there’s a new threat to our survivors, that is “not really walkers” nor is it “other people,” as executive producer Denise Huth teases; and also, it looks like Tyreese may have found himself a honey to cuddle up to, and she’s not Michonne, unlike in the comics. And there’s more, so just watch:

Lawrence Gilliard Jr.

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