The Walking Dead Season 8 Trailer: Who Is Old Man Rick?

The latest trailer for AMC’s “The Walking Dead” Season 8 definitely teased a lot of action and drama, as well as a surprisingly positive tone for the all-out war between Rick’s combined forces of The Kingdom, Alexandria and The Hilltop versus Negan and the Saviors. But perhaps the most interesting bit of the trailer came in the closing shots where we see Rick Grimes on a hospital bed, with significantly older features. This might come as a weird deviation for TV show fans of “The Walking Dead.” But for longtime followers of the source comic book material, it’s not that intriguing.

Jason Douglas, Andrew Lincoln, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christian Serratos, Ross Marquand, Jordan Woods-Robinson, and Troy Jackson in The Walking Dead (2010). Photo by Gene Page/AMC Film Holdings LLC.

The scene in mind starts with a soft shot of a cane leaning on a wall. We then see Rick, who looks very different from the current Rick that we know of and what we’re used to seeing. Rick now has a longer and thicker beard, with a generous amount of gray hair. This just means that a certain amount of time has passed, and what we’re now seeing is “Old Man Rick,” lying on a bed next to a bouquet of flowers. This is also a huge easter egg call back to Season 1—when we first met Rick inside a hospital after he woke up from his coma, with the entire world plunged into the zombie apocalypse.

Old Man Rick The Walking Dead Comic Book Source

Despite this, many fans are left wondering what this means for the entire path of “The Walking Dead.” This can be answered by going back to the source material. In the comics, Rick’s leg was broken by Negan in the event of the “All Out War.” The story continued with Rick now and old man after two years has passed, and he is now seen walking with a cane from his injury from the war.

Negan breaks Rick’s legs in The Walking Dead #126. Photo via Image Comics

One might think that this is where the TV show is going. However, keep in mind that AMC’s “The Walking Dead” tends to deviate from the source material significantly. The studio might not be ready to jump too far from the current timeline set in the TV show. Then again, this could also be a perfect set up for the diehard viewers in terms of what to expect for Rick. This could also come as a flash-forward scene, where we get to see what happens to Rick in the future after the war with Negan. This has been done on the show before, and we could see no reason why the showrunners won’t do it again.

Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead (2010). Photo by Gene Page/AMC Film Holdings LLC.

Another explanation for this could be one of the most popular “The Walking Dead” fan theories—it’s just Rick’s dream (note the dream-like filter that the footage has). We know that Rick has always been there to keep his people safe from any harm and that he would most likely want for them to stay together until something turns up from the zombie apocalypse. However, if this turns out to be the case, fans would be enraged, and it would be a bad hit on the show since the “it as just a dream” plot twist isn’t exactly a fresh perspective when it comes to effective storytelling.

Time will tell, but we can only hope for the best for Rick once “The Walking Dead” Season 8 premieres Sunday, October 22nd on AMC. Watch the trailer below: