'The Walking Dead' season 7 spoilers news: EP says things will get 'a lot worse' before they get better

Following the death of one of their own in the "Walking Dead" season 7 premiere episode, expect Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and company to shoulder through more tough situations before they finally catch a break.

In a recent interview with Deadline, "The Walking Dead" executive producer Greg Nicotero teased the highly anticipated season, saying, "I think it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better for our group, and it's pretty intense."

Nicotero explained that season 7 opens up an entirely new chapter in the "Walking Dead" story. And with new main villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) entering the scene, things in the post-zombie apocalypse world will be very different indeed. Apart from Negan sharing the spotlight with Rick, the introduction of new communities, including the Kingdom and the Sanctuary, definitely makes season 7 one to watch.

The "Walking Dead" boss also spoke about the aftermath of filming the climactic scene in the season 6 finale/season 7 premiere, in which Negan beats one of the Alexandrians to a pulp to teach Rick a lesson.

Far more than just being a much-hyped and pivotal part of the popular zombie apocalypse series, the murder scene was also reportedly quite a traumatic one to film. According to Nicotero, he was pretty messed up for two weeks after directing the season 7 opener.

"I really felt like I dragged a lot of my dearest friends into these really deep, dark places shooting that episode," he explained and added,  "and it's been definitely an experience unlike anything that I've ever handled before."

Meanwhile, "The Walking Dead" actor Michael Cudlitz, who plays the former military sergeant Abraham Ford in the series, recently compared Negan to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, the actor said that Trump is similar to Negan and that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is the real world version of Rick.

"I think Trump would be more like Negan and Clinton would be more like Rick, kind of go with the political when you can but not afraid to kill everybody if they had to," Cudlitz said.

According to Cudlitz, Negan, like Trump, is a bit of a loose cannon. He said that the observation is not a political one, adding, "And neither [Negan/Trump nor Rick/Clinton] is perfect."

"The Walking Dead" season 7 debuts on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.