A teaser trailer for The Walking Dead’s upcoming episodes has teased the arrival of one of the show’s biggest villains.

The two-minute clip, which aired after the mid-season finale titled Start To Finish, showed Negan’s biker gang The Saviours as they confront Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Sergeant Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin-Green) near Alexandria.

“What in the holy s***…?” said Abraham, as the road was blocked by the eight-strong group of heavily armed bikers, as the leader threatened the surviving trio to “come on out, join us on the road.”

The leader then hand over their weapons and vehicle, along with anything else they possess, because “Your property now belongs to Negan.”

Norman Reedus plays Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead
Norman Reedus plays Daryl Dixon (Gene Page/AMC)

Jeffrey Dean Morgan will play Negan, who is described as sadistic, violent and unhinged in the comic books.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Tony Felgueiras/Invision)

The show’s creator Robert Kirkman said this is the perfect time to introduce Negan, who will make his debut in the ninth episode in February 2016.

He said on spin-off The Talking Dead: “We’ll be finding out a lot more about the Saviours, Negan’s group, soon. This catalyst is going to be thrown in at some point in the future that’s just going to fundamentally change everything that we are doing.”

The Walking Dead’s showrunner Scott M Gimple promised “episode nine is one of the biggest episodes we’ve done,” calling it “gargantuan.”

UK viewers can watch the eighth episode of The Walking Dead at 9pm on Fox tonight.