"The Walking Dead" season 8 premiere will not provide a definitive explanation about the controversial Old Man Rick scene featured in the trailer during the San Diego Comic-Con earlier this summer. Apparently, this is somehow contrary to the previous remarks made by series creator Robert Kirkman, who assured fans that the show would waste no time clearing up the mystery.

With the eighth season ready to depict an all-out war between Rick Grimes' group and Negan's Saviours, fans speculated that the appearance of a bearded Rick in the trailer meant the show was about to include a time jump, like the one in the comic book. This theory seemed to lose some credence when Kirkman somehow promised a quick resolution to the issue.

The series showrunner Scott Gimple recently addressed the Old Man Rick scene and clarified that, despite the comment of Kirkman, "The Walking Dead" season 8 premiere will not provide an absolute clarification to the mystery. He explained to TVLine, "We will not get the definitive answer as to what that's about in the premiere. That won't come until about halfway into the season."

His remarks seemed to deride the possibility of a time-jump, leading more to chances that Old Man Rick may appear in a flash-forward or a dream scene. However, Gimple did not deny the speculation since season 8 will still address the mystery later in the installment. Thus, it is possible that, later in the series, there could be a leap forward in time, just like in the comic books.

Meanwhile, Chandler Riggs hinted that "The Waking Dead" season 8 will have more of Negan and "lots of killings." Speaking to Triple J, the young star explained, "Season seven was all about building up and getting everyone ready to fight against Negan. This season, there's going to be lots of explosion...It's really, really fun this season."

There is going to be a war in season 8 that should be more engaging than the previous installment. In seventh run, there was a total power imbalance – with Rick spending most of the season following Negan's orders. Now, he and his pack are fighting back.

"The Walking Dead" season 8 is slated to hit the small screens on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 9 p.m. ETD on AMC.