A new season of The Walking Dead will debut later this year, but in order to tide fans over for the next few months, AMC has released the first The Walking Dead season 5 image from the in-production series.  The network does this every year, and each image is usually a benign tease rather than anything substantial, but it’s a nice “heads-up” for the fans that new episodes are coming.  What’s interesting about season five is that this will be the first time since the gap between season one and season two that the same showrunner has guided an entire season and is now developing and planning the next one.  Of course Frank Darabont didn’t last long through season two before being pushed out, but current showrunner Scott Gimple looks to be sticking around for the time being.

Hit the jump to check out the first image from The Walking Dead’s fifth season, and stay tuned to Collider during Comic-Con this July for more significant updates on the new season, likely including the first trailer.  The Walking Dead returns to AMC this October.

Check out the first The Walking Dead season 5 image below, via AMC.  The new season will consist of 16 episodes, and as previously reported, a trio of characters have been upped to expanded series regular status for season five.  AMC is also developing a full The Walking Dead spinoff series set to debut in 2015, and it may even be a prequel to the main series.  For now, though, the focus is all on season five.

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