Getting primed for 'Walking Dead' premiere

Courtesy EW

If you haven't already been following, the countdown to the Oct. 14 premiere of The Walking Dead season three premiere has begun. The AMC zombie drama based on Robert Kirkman's comic sees the tormented band of survivors taking up refuge in a prison while, nearby, another group of survivors establish their own kind of community in the town of Woodbury.

Clearly these two worlds are primed for a collision of epic proportions, and based on the comic book source material, it's going to be bloody and violent - especially considering that Woodbury is led by this season's big bad, The Governor, played by David Morrissey.

Anyhow, Entertainment Weekly is amping up the excitement for the premiere with four TWD covers that features returning cast members Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker - who is making a return appearance as Merle, who was last seen handcuffed on a roof in S1 (not including his S2 hallunication). Morrissey also graces a cover as does another new cast member Danai Gurira as sword-wielding badass Michonne.

In a bit of casting news, Dallas Roberts is joining TWD as "Milton," a new character who Kirkman describes as a "details guy" that works with the guv and tries to figure out why the zombies behave the way they do. This presumably involves some likely disturbing experiments! Like Merle, Daryl and T-Dog, Milton does not originate within the comics.

Meanwhile, over on Facebook, you can catch EW's video interview with Lincoln talking trash about The Governor and play AMC's TWD social game (which has proven to be a highly addictive).

-Aaron Sagers