‘Walking Dead’ Season 8 Spoilers: Why Andrew Lincoln ‘Can’t Wait’ To Start Filming

The “Walking Dead” Season 7 finale left viewers — and the stars of the AMC series — craving more. The Saviors and Survivors are officially on the cusp of war and Andrew Lincoln can’t wait to dive back in.

The actor, who plays Rick Grimes on AMC’s post-apocalyptic series, told Entertainment Weekly he’s looking forward to Season 8, especially the premiere. The actor said the next season of “The Walking Dead” will be where he and the gang “start really playing the game.” He also shared a message for fans disappointed that the war — which the show spent all season building up to — has yet to kick off, promising that it would be worth the wait.

Read: “The Walking Dead” Alum Welcomes Baby Boy

“This is not hyperbole. This is not a cynical act to try and amp up enthusiasm for the hundredth episode in Season 8, but I am genuinely more excited about this next episode and the following 15 than I’ve ever been in my life. I can’t wait to get back,” Lincoln told EW.

The actor, who previously told fans Season 7 of “The Walking Dead” wouldn’t end on a cliffhanger, also assured viewers he had no knowledge of the Scavengers twist in the finale. In an interview with EW before the finale aired, he said he “did a little jig” after reading the script for the finale Season 7 episode. He claimed the episode contained “energy and excitement” unlike any others, adding that he and his co-stars were ready to dive into Season 8 right then and there.

“There’s a palpable sense of energy and excitement in that final episode,” Lincoln said. “I think that the crew felt it, this sort of brilliancy. And it was weird because it was the end of a long season and yet everybody was sort of chomping at the bit to keep going. I’ve never felt that before in the show. Everybody was like, ‘Yeah, darn it, let’s do Season 8 now!’ It was a really unique situation and everybody felt it. So I think if we get it right, it will be an incredibly satisfying ending to Season 7.”

Read: Why Jesus Reveal Was So Important On “The Walking Dead”

Lincoln isn’t the only one giving viewers a glimpse into Season 8 of “The Walking Dead.” Showrunner Scott M. Gimple has been fielding questions about what’s to come, many of which center around a time jump that happens in the written version of the story. Gimple wouldn’t confirm or deny whether he and “Walking Dead” writers were including the time jump or how far ahead it would take viewers, but did tell The Hollywood Reporter that the show is based off the book and would contain “some of that stuff.”

“For the people who read the comics, they’re going to be expecting this,” he said of the time jump. “We’re doing the book, we do all sorts of variations on it, and then we do things that are inspired by it and then we change things up with a remix. But I will say there are things that happen in the time jump that are referred to that are super interesting. And thus we might see some of that stuff; it might not be the same sort of jump, or we’ll do that two to five years in real time.”

Viewers will just have to keep tuning in to “The Walking Dead” on AMC to find out if and when the time jump occurs. Season 8 of the show has yet to get a premiere date.