First Photo From THE WALKING DEAD Season 9 Shows Some Time-Jump Changes

AMC has released the first photo from The Walking Dead Season 9 and it gives us a look at the big changes that are coming due to the jump in time. The survivors of the zombie apocalypse aren't driving around in cars anymore. They are now fully relying on horses and carriages. That's definitely going to give the show a change of pace and tells us that we are going to see a pretty significant time jump. The photo shows Michonne leading a group of survivors… on horseback.

While talking to EW, The Walking Dead executive producer Angela Kang offers up some details on what we can expect saying that they're "really looking at the start of a new chapter of the show." She goes on to explain:

"We’ll explore what happened as man made objects and structures break down. Infrastructure like roads and bridges are changing and crumbling. And we’ll also explore what happens as resources are getting low. There’s a fun Western vibe that has emerged. We are going into a period where a lot of the things that we’ve seen in previous seasons have broken down, so they’ve got these horses and carriages that are being drawn around instead of cars. Things are lit with oil lamps. People are using different kinds of weaponry. There’s a real grittiness to it that I think will be fun and fresh for the viewers."

I can dig it. This might be the big change that the show needs to keep audiences interested. Kang goes on to tease:

"We’ll see our group together working in unity in a lot of ways, but you’ll also see some changes in the way that they deal with each other. In some ways, you’ll see that the vision has succeeded beyond anybody’s wildest imagination. But you’ll also see the cracks in that."

I'm sure the first trailer for Season 9 will be released at Comic-Con next week, so stay tuned for that!