The Walking Dead season 11 set photos reveal first look at new villain

Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride in The Walking Dead
(Image credit: AMC)

New The Walking Dead photos have given us our first look at the main villain in season 11.

Ritchie Coster will play Pope, the leader of the mysterious and heavily armed Reapers, who were first mentioned towards the end of season 10. The Reapers are a hostile group of survivors and are set to be the main antagonists in the new season. Coster has previously appeared in movies like The Dark Knight and TV shows like True Detective. 

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Season 11 will be the long-running zombie show's last installment. As well as new additions to the cast like Coster, familiar faces including Norman Reedus' Daryl, Melissa McBride's Carol, Lauren Cohan's Maggie, and Christian Serratos's Rosita are also returning.  

There are three Walking Dead movies on the way, which will center around Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). There are two new spin-off shows in the works, too – fan favorites Carol and Daryl are also getting their own show, while Tales of the Walking Dead is described as an "episodic anthology with individual episodes or arcs of episodes focused on new or existing characters, backstories or other stand-alone experiences." 

The new season of The Walking Dead begins on AMC on August 22 (although the season 11 premiere aired a week early on AMC Plus), with a UK release following the next day on Disney Plus. Season 11 has 24 episodes, which are set to air in three installments through 2021 and 2022. While we wait, check out our list of the best Walking Dead episodes of all time. 

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.