New The Walking Dead season 9 trailer puts the strain on Maggie and Rick's relationship - and is that Michonne holding Lucille?

The new The Walking Dead season 9 trailer is pulling no punches when it comes to driving a wedge between Rick, Maggie, and everyone else who’s planning on taking sides in a potential upcoming conflict. The whole 30-second teaser is filled with so much dread that even something as instantly-iconic as Michonne getting to grips with Lucille can easily be glossed over…

“You told me you’d be the one following me, but you didn’t,” Maggie tells Rick at the onset of the new The Walking Dead season 9 trailer. It sets the tone for a series of awkward confrontations and conversations throughout the video, which you can see above.

Rick and Daryl look to be (again) on the verge of blows as the latter throws down his bike in anger. It appears as though Rick has challengers on all sides, too. Even Michonne is shown laying down the law via voiceover before menacingly staring out her katana and, then, Negan’s baseball bat, Lucille. Now, what (or rather, who) does she have planned for that?

Things are looking bleak for Rick all round, then. That’s without even mentioning the Walker threat. The ex-cop comes as close as he ever has to becoming Walker grub towards the end of the trailer as he’s seemingly caught unawares by a member of the shambling undead sneaking up on him during a nap. Gee, if Rick is losing his touch a bit then he might not make it through the whole of season 9. Just a hunch…

All in all, if the new trailer is any indication, it seems as though the first half of the season will very much focus on internal conflicts and the breakdown of the core group. What comes next, be it The Whisperers or whoever else, is very much going to be a story for another day – and 2019.

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.