As they do each season for a couple of their shows, today AMC released a variety of character portraits featuring the leads in season 3 of The Walking Dead.

These essentially confirm who the big players will be in the upcoming season, which features 16 episodes – the show’s longest season to date. Notable photos include shots of a very scruff Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson), a quickly growing Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs), The Governor (David Morrissey), Michonne (Danai Gurira), and the return of Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker).

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In addition to these character photos, AMC has released a featurette of The Walking Dead season 3 cast discussing the upcoming story and what you can expect from each of their respective characters.

One of the main focuses of this video is about what’s different in this season compared to the previous two. “The energy of the first, the opening episode certainly sets the tone. We hit the ground running,” says Andrew Lincoln. “There’s just this level we’re hitting I don’t think, maybe it’s not been done in television before,” Steven Yuen added. “When we open with season 3, you’ll see there’s no fear at all,” said IronE Singleton (T-Dog) We’re like a serious strike force. That’s totally different for this group.”

The Walking Dead season 3 premieres Sunday, October 14 at 9 PM ET/PT on AMC!