The Walking Dead season 8 trailer teases potential character death

Potential season eight spoilers follow

Following last week's unveiling of the first trailer for The Walking Dead season eight, speculation has been rife over what fans can expect in the episodes to come.

Battles, reunions and, of course, time jumps look set to rock the eighth run of the popular AMC series, but eagle-eyed fans of the comic book source material noticed something that the more casual viewer may have missed - the death of a particular character.

*Warning: spoilers may follow*

Late on in the action-packed trailer, Shiva - the trusty tiger sidekick to Kingdom leader King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) - can be seen taking down several walkers which long-time readers believe points to a key moment from Robert Kirkman's comics.

During the all out war arc, which sees Rick lead a group of communities into battle with the villainous Negan, Shiva saves her master when he finds himself trapped by a horde of the undead - a rescue mission which ends in sacrifice as poor Shiva gets devoured by the zombies.

Sure, the moment may be merely duping fans into believing this could be Shiva's demise - time will most certainly tell.

The Walking Dead season eight begins in the US on 22 October with its UK premiere arriving the following evening (23 October)