It's time to double-down on The Walking Dead - not only is a new spinoff series launching this month, but the acclaimed original will return a few months later.

Here's everything we know so far about season six - no wild rumours or speculation, just the facts, ma'am.

The Basics

EW



Season six - which began filming in Georgia in May - will premiere on October 11 on AMC in the US, and the following day on FOX in the UK.

The premiere - written by showrunner Scott Gimple with Matthew Negrete - will run a record 90-minutes and has been directed by Greg Nicotero, the show's executive producer and make-up maestro.

Episode two - like the premiere, currently untitled - has been written by Seth Hoffman and directed by Jennifer Lynch. Six more episodes will follow before the show goes on its now traditional mid-season break, returning with 8 more exciting instalments in February 2016.

New Faces...

EW



Joining the regular cast for season six will be Corey Hawkins as Heath - a supply runner and loyal friend to Glenn (Steven Yeun) who originated in issue #69 of the Walking Dead comic series.

Nurse Jackie award-winner Merritt Wever will play another comic book favourite - Dr Denise Cloyd - while Ethan Embry has been hired to play Carter, another Alexandria resident.

How close will these character be to their comic equivalents? "I think [there's] a few minor remixes, but some direct stuff from the comic as well, as far as these characters go," Gimple said.

...and Some Old Ones

EW



Lennie James is back, this time on a regular basis and series creator Robert Kirkman has promised that Morgan's evolving relationship with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) will serve as "the spine" of this new season.

"Having Rick and Morgan together, finally, again is a huge deal, and it's definitely going to be a big part of season six. Now it's a very different Rick and a very different Morgan [than in the first and third seasons] who are going to have a completely different relationship."

Might we even be looking at Rick vs. Morgan? That's what an epic trailer for season six seemed to foreshadow, with Rick attempting to take charge of Alexandria - yes, the Ricktatorship is back - and Morgan vowing to "stop him".

Threats On the Horizon



Who's been carving those sinister letter 'W's into the skin of vanquished walkers? A pack of hostile survivors known as 'The Wolves' will emerge as a signicant threat in The Walking Dead season six.

"These guys are roamers..." explained Norman Reedus. "...and they seem like a whole bunch of Daryls gone south who have gone really bad - and turned into wolves."

Gimple, meanwhile, has confirmed that while the Wolves - who originated in the comics - will absolutely be part of the new episodes, it will be "in a way that you don't expect."

Of course, this being The Walking Dead, there's also that little problem of the ever-present zombie hordes: "We've seen that Alexandria can be breached - it is no longer the safe zone it was," hinted exec producer Gale Ann Hurd.

It looks like Greg Nicotero and his team might be offering up some of the show's most stomach-churning flesh-eaters yet - but is there room this season for Negan, a villain from the comics whose inevitable arrival is hotly-anticipated by fans?



"I would be very surprised if we don't see Negan on the horizon in the not-too-distant future," said Andrew Lincoln, when quizzed about the possibility of crossing paths with the brutal wrongdoer, who uses torture as a means to a despicable end.

Robert Kirkman was more tentative in an interview conducted last year though: "I wouldn't expect Negan terribly soon, although he is definitely in the plan. It's a 99% lock that he's going to be in the show eventually, so be on the lookout for that."

Kirkman has even named Mad Men star Jon Hamm as his top pick to play Negan - with Hamm himself also expressing interest in the part - though there's been no official announcement on this front.

Going Back To the Start



Scott Gimple appeared hesistant when asked at Comic-Con about potential flashbacks this season - but the new episodes could dig into character's backstories in a different way.

In short, while the second half of the season will directly adapt a storyline from the comics, the first eight episodes will serve as an original "prequel" to those events: "I think there's a way that Robert did some of the story...that had a real past to it, where people are referring to some things in the past in the comic," Gimple explained.

"We're able to portray some of that backstory in some ways that you didn't get to see in the comic," - that's pretty much clear as mud at the moment, but will presumably make more sense once the season starts to unfold in October.

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