Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, the hit AMC drama series The Walking Dead has returned for a third season, with higher stakes, more threatening human villains and, of course, plenty of zombies.  With tensions at an all-time high, the mysterious Michonne (Danai Gurira) decided to follow her instincts, in regard to the apparently idyllic town of Woodbury, its Governor (David Morrissey) and her friend, Andrea (Laurie Holden).

During this recent interview, co-executive producer/special effects make-up supervisor and designer Greg Nicotero talked about how the recent deaths and newborn baby are affecting Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of survivors, Rick’s delusions versus the Governor’s delusions, getting to introduce some iconic aspects of the comics, and how viewers will soon learn the fate of Carol (Melissa McBride), while actress Danai Gurira talked about Michonne’s decision, the challenges of maintaining the character’s intensity, how they adapted Michonne’s backstory from comic to screen, and how her companions were brought to life.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

The hit AMC drama series The Walking Dead has returned for a third season, with higher stakes, more threatening human villains and, of course, plenty of zombies. When things pick back up, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his fellow survivors continue to seek refuge, this time in an abandoned prison, but soon discover that there are greater forces to fear than just the walking dead. The struggle to survive has never been so perilous, especially considering that Rick’s wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), is close to the due date of her pregnancy. Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, the show also stars Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Chandler Riggs, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, IronE Singleton, Melissa McBride, Danai Gurira and David Morrissey.

At the show’s press day, actress Danai Gurira (who plays the mysterious and bad-ass Michonne) talked about how much fun it is to play a woman of few words but much action, what it’s like to wield a sword, how she’s always wanted to play an action hero, playing a character that has so much attention focused on her, having to get fake Twitter and Facebook pages shut down, auditioning with a dummy scene, and how it’s safe to say that Michonne will have conflicts with people who don’t sit right with her. Check out what she had to say after the jump, but beware spoilers.

Just recently we got a tease of the third season of The Walking Dead which is currently in production. The cast and crew talked about the darker and more ominous feel of the the AMC series, and also the new characters who will be coming our way in October. Now we finally have the first official photo of one of those characters who was shown in obscurity at the conclusion of last season. The first photo of Michonne, the bad-ass samurai sword wielding woman played by Danai Gurira (Treme), has arrived, and you can see it after the jump.