'Walking Dead' Poster: Are Rick and Company Fleeing the Prison? Plus, 4 Menacing Spoilers

Fall TV

Warning: If you haven't finished watching the third season of "The Walking Dead," there are spoilers ahead.

After running the Governor off at the end of Season 3 and opening the prison to the citizenry of Woodbury, are Rick Grimes and his friends going to be forced out of their (relatively) safe haven and back on the road?

Could be, as fans of the "Walking Dead" comics know that Rick and company don't stay at the prison forever.

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More evidence that a prison departure may be imminent: the new Season 4 poster, which shows Rick (Andrew Lincoln) standing in front of a section of the prison fence that looks like it has been torn apart.

Also, as "Walking Dead" daddy (comics creator and series executive producer) Robert Kirkman told The Hollywood Reporter, "The circumstances that could occur that would lead them from prison remain a mystery, but they could be in the prison for the next two or three seasons or leave the prison in the very first episode of this season. It's all up in the air, and that's the way we prefer it."

[Related: 'Walking Dead' 101: How You Can Take a Free College Course on the Hit AMC Drama]

"Walking Dead" cast and crew have been uncharacteristically chatty about the new season lately, also telling THR:

1. Walkers will be more menacing in Season 4.

"Our group became very proficient at killing walkers," executive producer Greg Nicotero says. "We wanted that threat to be ever constant and ever present. We've devised ways to put our characters in instantaneous jeopardy without them being prepared for it. Danger could come from anywhere, and it was really important that we re-establish the rules of our world."

2. The Governor (David Morrissey) will be more menacing in Season 4.

"He doesn't carry what happened at the end of Season 3 very lightly. He was a man that recognizes a switch went off in his head, and even though he's done terrible things, that ramped him up to somewhere else and he was out of control. That's a very worrying thing for him, and that switch takes him into this dark place," Morrissey says. "[Season 4 is] about how he deals and comes to terms with the man he is and what he's capable of and which side he's going to fall on. That's the choice he has to make."

[Related: 'Walking Dead' Villain David Morrissey Cast in AMC Pilot — Bad Omen for The Governor?]

3. Michonne (Danai Gurira) will be more menacing in Season 4 (at least, if your name is the Governor).

"More than any other character, Michonne is driven to find the Governor and find out what's going on with him, where he is, what he may be plotting, and bringing him to justice," Kirkman says.

4. There's a new threat, and, no surprise, it's quite menacing.

"It's someone we haven't seen before. Someone unusual; you can't stab them in the face, you can't reason with it," says new showrunner Scott Gimple. "It's a force that would be dangerous in this world, and in the world of 'The Walking Dead,' it's terrifying." Hmm ... "someone"? "Them"? "It"? Is this new threat a person or a thing? Something virusy, perhaps?

Watch a sneak peek of the new season:

"The Walking Dead" Season 4 premieres on Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. on AMC.