AMC

The Walking Dead has had no shortage of controversy since the brain-bashing arrival of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan, though the series may have inadvertently stoked racial tension as well. U.K. suppliers apparently pulled official merchandise over accusations of racism, though Morgan himself dismisses the controversy with “people are stupid.”

Let’s be honest: even the most diehard of Walking Dead fans would admit to tough going through the first half of Season 7, between all its brutality, and unease with seeing Rick so utterly broken. We’ve heard Andrew Lincoln promising a brighter future ahead, though the actor now acknowledges some fan frustration, promising “this season made a lot more sense once we got the last roll of film in the can.”

It’s been an exceptionally punishing year for fans of The Walking Dead, who first endured the cop-out of Negan’s entrance, a summer spent waiting, and about eight episodes since of misery under The Saviors’ reign. Rick will finally fight back when Season 7 returns in February, and Andrew Lincoln insists “There’s a lot more levity, if you can believe that.”

Time will tell if The Walking Dead can undo the fan ire that came with Season 6's cliffhanger finale, but time they certainly have. One week out from Season 7's premiere, The Walking Dead confirms that its endless parade of undead misery will continue through Season 8, and hit a major milestone at that.

Even as Walking Dead comic fans knew it to be coming, AMC viewers may have been taken back by the Season 7 trailer appearance of “King” Ezekiel and his pet tiger Shiva. Season 7 brought the creature to life with animatronics and CGI, while creator Robert Kirkman admits he wrote the tiger in to see how a TV series might handle it.

The Walking Dead is not always beholden to cliffhanger endings, closing out Seasons 1, 3 and 5 on relatively straight-forward beats, but Season 6 seemed overwhelmingly to sour fans on any cruel tease. However Season 7 picks up to answer that bloody twist, Robert Kirkman confirms they won’t try anything like that for the 2017 finale.

We’ve wondered for months how The Walking Dead might handle a Season 7 trailer without spoiling the big revelation of Negan’s victim, and Comic-Con 2016 finally gave us the answer. It’s a brave and deadly new world for Rick’s group, with the full Season 7 trailer confirming some fierce new additions.

Apart from the Season 6 cliffhanger itself, The Walking Dead raises significant questions as to how Season 7 might release trailers and photos without spoiling Negan’s victim. We may have a frustrating first answer, as the first official photo from the new season looks a trifle familiar. Batter up!

Apart from its climactic end, The Walking Dead Season 6 finale used a great majority of its 90-minute runtime to shuttle Rick’s crew back and forth between Savior traps; not exactly the riveting material you’d expect an extended cut for. Yet here we are, as the full list of Walking Dead Season 6 Blu-ray features lists not only an extended cut, but also in-depth looks at Negan and some of the season’s biggest moments.

It’s no secret that The Walking Dead had its work cut out to keep its big Season 6 death under wraps, awkwardly positioning the cliffhanger as something spoiler-hounds could easily sniff out in Season 7 production. We’d heard of at least some precautions taken to keep the victim a secret, but it seems The Walking Dead is sparing no expense, shooting death scenes for every single character involved.

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher is one of those tricky properties to properly adapt. Remain too faithful and you run the risk of creating a laughably absurd, tonally catastrophic mess. Venture too far away from the source material and you may alienate the very fan base you wish to please. Thankfully, producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and showrunner Sam Catlin have hit that rare sweet spot, and though the pilot episode of AMC’s Preacher does recalibrate some of Ennis and Dillon’s basic plotting and setups, the essential spirit and characters of the graphic novel remain delightfully the same.

Outrage over The Walking Dead Season 6 finale has barely cooled, but already AMC has in mind a delivery date for the whole Season 6 she-bang, including Negan’s F-bombs. The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD this August, while you can see the cover art right now.