The Ricktatorship has its work cut out come season three of AMC’s The Walking Dead.
Following the eventful second-season finale that saw Hershel’s farm go up in flames and Rick and company hit the road in search of a new home, the not-so-merry band of survivors will have to prepare for a massive battle if they plan to set up shop at the prison.
Hershel (Scott Wilson), now out of the relative safety of the farm, is in for quite a rude awakening, noting that “Christ promised a resurrection in mind … I just thought he had something different in mind.”
Showrunner Glen Mazzara recently told THR that this season, everyone — including Hershel and his daughter Beth — will feel a need to be a “valuable part of the team” and contribute. “If I don’t get this done, if I don’t kill that walker, that walker may kill someone else,” he said. “So everybody bonds together for the good of the group. They all have each other’s backs.”
“The pace seems very different this year and I think it’s just a lot more suspenseful, it’s lot more intense than it was last year,” he added.
Check out the clip below, exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter, to see what awaits Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Hershel and the group at the prison.
10 SECOND TEASER CLIPS
When season 1 of The Walking Dead came to a close, fans were left unsure of where the series was headed. After heavily deviating from the comic book’s canon, the producers of the show made it very apparent they were on their own track.
With season 3, however, fans know the show is working towards some really exciting territory, and are about to experience storylines that more closely mirror Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel. Characters like Michonne and the Governor – fan favorites we’d been hoping would get thrown in the mix – are now being brought to life, and figuring heavily into this forthcoming season.
To help get fans prepared for the show’s return this October, a new TV spot has been released. While it’s extremely light on…well, anything, it does tease a suspenseful season 3 for Rick Grimes. In it, Rick appears to be scoping out an enclosed space, perhaps in an abandoned house, and what he finds cannot possibly be good:
We know that after establishing his role as leader of the group (Ricktatorship?) in the season 2 finale, Grimes and his band of survivors will be making their way to the prison – a key location in the comics – but how they will get there is unclear. And then, once they discover the seemingly abandoned prison, it’s going to be interesting to see what the group discovers inside its walls.
Obviously, as has been shown in a few set photos from The Walking Dead season 3, there will be zombies, but how some of the series’ new characters will come into play – including those that were created specifically for the show – hasn’t been detailed. It’s already been teased that a major character will not survive season 3, but as we learned last season, there’s never just one death.
Along with the introduction of Michonne and the Governor, season 3 will also reintroduce audiences to the character of Merle Dixon, whom last we saw in some pretty dire straits. Towards the tail end of season 2, some hints were delivered that suggested Merle was alive; since then, the casting of Michael Rooker and a new magazine cover confirm it.
There are plenty of surprises in store for viewers of The Walking Dead season 3; however, this time there also are a few expected places the series appears to be headed towards. Those looking to know more can anticipate additional details, and more TV spots, as we near the season’s premiere.
The Walking Dead begins season 3 on October 14th at 9pm on AMC.
Walking Dead Season 3 Spoiler Guide: New Characters & “Incredible Danger”
Now that The Walking Dead is getting its own preview weekend on AMC (July 7 – 8), we thought it might be time for an updated spoiler guide to Season 3. As wepreviously reported,word from the Senoia, Georgia set was that the focus next season will be on the so-called “zombie sanctuary.” Most comic book fans know it as the prison where Rick Grimes and his new band of followers first attempt to take shelter after he kills Shane and declares an autocracy.
What do we know so far?
First look: Michonne. Fan favorite Michonne first appeared in the final moments of the Season 2 finale, when a hooded figure leading armless zombies on chains came across Andrea in the woods. Click here to see a photo of Michonne’s angry face as she wields a tatana sword.
Ricky’s got a gun. We’re not ones to fall in love with dictators, but thissneak peek photo of Rick covered in dirt and sweat, sporting longer hair and pointing a gun in our face, is enough to make us change our ways.
The Governor. Most TWD fans are already looking forward to The Governor’s appearance at the prison, but for those of us who haven’t read the comic books, it should interest you to know that he is “the ultimate villain,” according to one TWD site. “He will bring pain and suffering to the Grimes family and Rick will regret the day that they ever crossed paths.” David Morrissey, a relative unknown, will play the scary-lookingpart. He will “first attack once Rick and the gang try to take refuge in the prison,” reports Best Movies Ever News.
Two new characters. Over at BMEN, an AMC source spills about Harold, a “studious and fastidious” forty-something man who “is the polar opposite of Shane and more in line with Dale.” So he’s a bit of a wise softie. Also new is Manuel, a thirty-something Hispanic man: “a working class survivor, he is confident, physically skilled, a leader when necessary, capable, and smart. Has a terrific sense of humor where you wouldn’t expect one.”
Jimmy & T-Dog may not be long for this world. Finally! Maybe we should be more sentimental about BMEN’s news from an AMC source advising, “[Don’t] expect T-Bone to last long.” But poor IronE Singleton has been playing third wheel to the whole show ever since the Season 1 finale. Time to stop. And Jimmy, we hardly knew ye, so it’s nice to hear that you’ll “get a little wandering around the farm and RV screen time,” but you’re a zombie now. Let’s move on.
Maggie’s here to stay.TVLine reported in March that Lauren Cohan, who plays Hershel’s most enterprising and toughest daughter Maggie, has been promoted to series regular. Which is good, because the first time we met her, she was saving Andrea’s life. She’s a good egg.
Behind-the-scenes Season 3 footage! We saved the best for last. AMC recently released this behind-the-scenes video (below) from the set of the Season 3 premiere episode. Everyone’s covered in dirt and blood, and the prison tunnels look dark and claustrophobic. Norman Reedus (Daryl) teases that “people start losing their minds … love blossoms.” And the adorably accented Andrew Lincoln (Rick) promises a “darker, harder, faster, deeper” and “incredibly dangerous” return. Sign us up!
Video: The Walking Dead Season 3 Sneak Peek: Behind the Scenes (VIDEO)
The Walking Dead Season 3 Preview Weekend airs on Saturday, July 7, and Sunday, July 8, beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET/PT on AMC.
Warning:The following contains spoilers for the third season of The Walking Dead.
If the promise of the Prison, The Governor and Michonne wasn’t enough to keep fans of The Walking Dead salivating for the third season, new photos from the set of the AMC drama reveal the return of a long-absent character to further complicate the lives of Rick Grimes and the other survivors.
As you probably guessed, that character isn’t tormented widower Morgan Jones, but rather Merle Dixon (played by veteran actor Michael Rooker), the racist meth addict who disappeared in the third episode of Season 1 (“Tell It to the Frogs”), leaving only his dismembered hand and a trail of blood to remember him by. Sure, he cropped up again last season in a hallucination to taunt his injured brother Daryl (Norman Reedus), but that hardly counts. In the third season, it’s the real Merle Dixon, missing hand and all.
The second photo is significantly cheerier, showing a smiling, two-handed Rooker signing an autograph for a young fan. It’s probably the same expression Merle will have when he reunites with Rick, T-Dog and Daryl. Okay, probably not.
Spoiler Warning: Glen Mazzara, showrunner for AMC’s The Walking Dead revealed some vital information in regards to the upcoming season of the show and mentioned that he sees the upcoming Prison arc lasting for both seasons three and four. Plus, he offers comments on pacing complaints, character evolutions/intros, the TV series catching up to the source material and more.
The Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse, following a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by walkers, where the interpersonal conflicts often present a greater danger than anything else and over time, the characters grow willing to do almost anything to survive.
As next season of The Walking Dead gears up for shooting its 16 episode order this May, fans should prepare themselves to visit the next safe haven that comic readers know all too well. During a recent round table interview, Glen Mazzara mentioned that the aforementioned Prison arc will last all of the third season until the end of season four.
“I think that a lot of people felt the farm was claustrophobic and we don’t want the prison to be that way,” said Mazzara. “The prison arc is really the heart of Robert Kirkman’s work with The Walking Dead.”
He went on to say that he plans to move closer to the source material in some aspects, but that there will of course be deviations along the way. Perhaps the largest deviation in season two was the surprise exit of Dale and therefore the lost opportunity to explore his storylines moving forward. In regards to Dale and Andrea’s love relationship, Mazzara said the writers didn’t feel the need to pursue it at all. “I don’t feel the Dale/Andrea storyline is a loss. It was never really on the table.”
One of the more intriguing comic book storylines involves Dale and group of cannibal hunters, and that will apparently live on through a different character in the TV series. “Anybody can be cannibalized, so we still have that story in the pocket.” As new characters like Michonne and the villainous Governor are introduced, I asked Mazzara if the zombies will ever take a backseat for an eventual human threat and conflict.
“Zombies will never take a backseat. We will introduce a significant human threat but the zombies are fully integrated into this world and are part of the landscape. There could be times with no zombie action but we feel we don’t need to have a 1000 zombies on the show either.”
Mazzara also confirmed that viewers can expect more ‘hero zombies’ in season three, much like the one that finished Dale off and proving Mazzara’s “quality over quantity” theory in regards to the undead. I also asked if he feels the show will catch up to the source material now that the ratings have shown continued and growing success. “Maybe we will catch up eventually; I know that Robert has no plans to end the comic.”
One of the common complaints Mazzara and the Walking Dead team have faced is purported pacing issues, which many felt caused the show to run slower in the first half before picking up later on in the season. When asked if any viewer input had an impact on this pacing change Mazzara replied, “No. My inclination was always to ramp it up after the Sophia arc and we were already so well into production that would have been impossible anyway.” Another question was asked if Mazzara’s comment of the final three episodes being a benchmark for the pacing of season three was a stab at Frank Darabont’s earlier work in which he vacated the series as showrunner after the Sophia arc. “Not at all. Frank actually wondered earlier on if we had pacing issues at the beginning himself.”
In regards to the characters, Mazzara revealed that Lori’s reaction of anger upon hearing news of Rick murdering Shane was one of shock and disgust in herself. This scene puzzled some fans when Lori implied for Rick to “deal with” Shane earlier in the season. “Lori did not ask Rick to kill Shane. She’s a confused control freak. She’s horrified at Rick and herself for her own role in this and is dealing with self hatred. She is appropriately f***ed up.”
Another character that viewers wanted to see more from was T-Dog, who many felt was underutilized. Mazzara said he was surprised by this reaction and compared T-Dog to another character by the name of Ronnie from Mazzara’s writing days on The Shield. He did however admit that they might have went a bit far in ignoring him to some degree saying, “He has been off to the side and forgotten so we’re going to correct this now that he’s survived the finale and develop him from being a background character in significant ways.”
As for new characters, he went on to confirm the sword-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira) will have a vital role and said that, although her surprise entrance in season two was very “theatrical”, he does want to ground that character and make her real and gritty. The Governor, played by David Morrissey, is a good friend of Andrew Lincoln (who plays Rick) in real life. Mazzara mentioned that although he was not familiar with Morrissey’s work, Lincoln’s praise along with Morrissey’s audition were perfect. The actor understood that the Governor’s essence is that of a true villain.
Other interesting notes include
Mazzara confirmed fan favorite Merle (Michael Rooker) is “on the horizon” for season three.
Greg Nicotero will shoot webisodes based on different characters sometime next month.
Horror novelist Stephen King will not direct an episode of the series as he was Darabont’s connection.
The bar shoot-out in the episode ‘Triggerfinger’ was inspired by a similar scene from HBO’s The Wire.
A writer from HBO’s The Sopranos has been added to the TWD team.
Security has been ramped up significantly to prevent leaks, which were a huge plague for season two.
Scripts for season three are being written simultaneously in a style that Frank Darabont introduced that he learned while working with George Lucas. Mazzara will write the third season premiere.
Despite the prison arc showcasing some of the darkest aspects of the series, Mazzara confirmed that there’s“no place they won’t go” in those terms although they may utilize off-screen effects in some situations.
Mazzara’s friend Kurt Sutter (creator of Sons of Anarchy) will likely have a zombie cameo next season while Mazzara plays a dead biker on SOA to seal the deal. “I love Kurt, so I might take him up on that offer.”
