‘The Walking Dead’ Season 6B spoilers: Upcoming season may see a new hero to save Rick and the gang

The latest promo images released by AMC for “The Walking Dead” has sparked many fan speculations about potential events in the upcoming season. One of these theories hinted that a new hero may rise to rescue Rick and other “The Walking Dead” characters in season 6B.

One of the recent photo stills for “The Walking Dead” season 6B featured a hand holding a rosary, with the crucifix dangling below the closed fist. Fan theories surrounding the said picture indicated that the hand may belong to Carol (Melissa McBride) and that the photo was a symbolic image of the character seeking closure for the way she behaved in the previous season, Vanity Fair reported.

However, other fan speculations hinted that it was a reference to the "The Walking Dead" comic book character Paul “Jesus” Monroe. According to Vanity Fair, Jesus will play a critical role in helping Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) fight and defeat Negan, to be played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. If the storyline of “The Walking Dead” season 6B stays true to Robert Kirkman’s comic books, Jesus will assist Rick on a war against the Saviours. The fight will lead to a bloody battle with a major character death, but Jesus will help to eventually take down Negan.

Thomas Payne, who has been cast to play Jesus in “The Walking Dead” season 6B, even reposted the AMC promo image of the hand holding a rosary on Instagram. Payne simply captioned the image “thetpayne,” which sparked excited reactions from fans. Instagram user @attiwink stated, “Finally! One of my favourite TWD (comic) character. Very excited!!”

Another Instagram post also described “The Walking Dead’s” Jesus as the “best character” in the series and congratulated Payne for his upcoming role. Instagram user @jfhennedy wrote, “JESUS IS COMING!! Best character in the entire series man, I'm so excited for you. These tv only fans don't even know!!”

Meanwhile, AMC’s promo images for “The Walking Dead” season 6B also hinted of a larger world for the series’ characters to explore and discover. The pictures even featured snapshots of Lincoln’s Rick with a scar underneath his eye and Morgan (Lennie James) on horseback along an empty road.

“The Walking Dead” season 6B returns on Feb. 14 in the US on AMC.