The Walking Dead season 8 star Andrew Lincoln teases 'Old Man Rick' twist

'It will become somewhat clearer after the October premiere'

The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln has teased fans about the Old Man Rick twist that rocked the season 8 trailer.

A first look at the AMC series' upcoming season dropped at Comic-Con in July, ending with a shot showing an older version of protagonist Rick Grimes hospitalised with a cane at an uncertain time in the future all but confirming a time-jump.

Although showrunner Scott Gimple originally revealed we wouldn't get a "definitive answer" in the premiere - which will also be the show's 100th episode - Lincoln told EW: "It will become somewhat clearer after the October premiere. Then again, it may not be. It maybe still is somewhat opaque. I think that that's possibly all I can say on the matter."

He did comment that he himself was "shocked and kind of excited byt it" adding: "My instinct was, what a great storytelling device. That was my instinct. I thought it was very interesting, and also gives us an opportunity to do something else a little ahead of the game, which I think is very, very neat," he explained.

He also confirmed the time jump saying: "I mean, it's a grey Rick. It's an older Rick. So by virtue of the fact that you see, that means that it's in the future.

The Walking Dead returns on October 22 on AMC in the US and October 23 on FOX in the UK.