New The Walking Dead teaser features a subtle nod to Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes

Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead
(Image credit: AMC)

The Walking Dead season 11 concluded its second batch of episodes and wasted no time teasing what's to come in a super short trailer for its third and final chapter, which is set to release later this year.

The 30-second clip sees Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) prepare to fight the Commonwealth's power-hungry deputy governor Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton), whose military occupation of Alexandria hasn't gone down well with the gang. As they gear themselves up for yet another war, Daryl can be seen pulling out a Colt Python revolver, which fans will recognise as Rick Grimes' old weapon of choice.

Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead

(Image credit: AMC)

In season 9's flashback-heavy episode 'Scars', Michonne (Danai Gurira) found the gun while searching for Rick's body, after he blew up the bridge he was on to save his friends and family from an oncoming horde of walkers. Eventually, she wound up giving it to her's and Rick's daughter Judith (Cailey Fleming), while Daryl spent six years living alone in the wilderness, searching for his lost pal.

Season 10 saw Michonne discover new evidence that Rick was still alive, and set off on a solo mission to find him, instructing Judith to keep what she was doing a secret from Daryl or else he might come looking for her. Does the fact that Daryl now has Rick's gun signify that Judith has finally come clean about her mother's whereabouts, though?

Just a few weeks ago, Lincoln was spotted hanging out with Reedus in Georgia, where The Walking Dead is filmed, which unsurprisingly sparked rumours about Rick returning in the flagship show's final season. The series wrapped filming on March 30.

When discussing whether he'd reprise the role, outside of the planned Rick Grimes movies anyway, Lincoln told SFX back in April 2021: "I 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 and making this beautiful and ground-breaking show that still resonates with the world."

The Walking Dead season 11c is set to premiere in Fall 2022. If you're all up to date so far, and aren't sure what to binge-watch next, then use our list of the best TV shows of all time for some inspiration. (Spoiler: We ranked The Walking Dead at #80).

Amy West

I am an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.