‘TWD’ Boss Angela Kang Teases ‘Action-Packed’ Season 11 Opener (VIDEO)

The Walking Dead‘s final season is almost here — and it’s going to be a big one. We mean that in two ways, really — both story-wise and in episode count. The AMC zombie drama’s 11th season will be broken up into three parts, totaling 24 episodes, and it all kicks off on Sunday, August 22 (or Sunday, August 15 for AMC+ subscribers).

“We’ve got lots of big, emotional, action-packed stories,” showrunner Angela Kang says of the last season, ahead of the show’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home panel. “We’ve got a great sense of scope again for this final season. We’re playing with things that are more humorous as well as things that are like, really just scary, for those hardcore horror fans out there. So, it’s just all of those things that we love about making the show, which hopefully, the fans will really enjoy too.”

We spoke to Kang ahead of the release of TV Guide Magazine’s The Walking Dead Universe Special Collector’s Issue, which hits newsstands nationwide on Tuesday, August 17. And as far as those massive storylines go, our weary survivors have been split up — and it sounds like nobody is having a good time. Most are dealing with the fallout after the Whisperers War, which destroyed their home and left them fending for supplies in the harsh conditions of the post-apocalyptic world. Others are trapped by that spookily organized group of white-armored soldiers.

In the first episode back, however, newly-returned mom Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and the trying-to-be-better Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) are just two within a group who venture out to put more food on Alexandria’s tables through the underground sewers near Washington, D.C. During their trek, they’ll face some major dilemmas. “We definitely come in with a much more ambitious type of action sequence,” showrunner Angela Kang teases. “It’s a really fun, action-packed first episode back.”

The Walking Dead Season 11 Jeffrey Dean Morgan

(Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC)

The Walking Dead, Season 11 Premiere, Sunday, August 22, 9/8c, AMC (or catch it a week early on AMC+)

TV Guide Magazine’s The Walking Dead Universe Special Collector’s Issue is available for international pre-order online now at TheWalkingDeadMag.com and will be available nationwide on newsstands on Tuesday, August 17