The Walking Dead season 7: Andrew Lincoln teases 'greatest showdown' yet

The actor seems to have officially ruled Rick Grimes out of being Negan's victim

The cast of The Walking Dead had it more difficult than anyone at this year's San Diego Comic-Con having ended its previous season on one of the biggest cliffhangers in television history.

Assembled for a panel to discuss the AMC zombie series, the writers and cast - including Steven Yeun (Glenn), Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Danai Gurira (Michonne) - did a good job at completely avoiding the elephant in the room (a phrase we're changing to 'the tiger in the room' following the first season seven trailer): just who did new villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) bludgeon to death in season six's closing moments?

Andrew Lincoln - who plays Rick Grimes - teased the upcoming season without giving anything away. In fairness, he did a good job if officially ruling himself out of being the deceased character in the process.

"It's a really shitty start to the season," he admitted, referring to the loss of a fellow cast member. He did go on to say that the oncoming war, which will involve our gang, the Saviours, the Hilltop Colony and new faction the Kingdom, will be suitably epic.

He described it as "one of the greatest showdowns we've had on the show since Terminus."

We guess it's time to buckle up.

The Walking Dead season 7 will premiere in the US on 23 October with an airdate expected to follow a day later on FOX in the UK.