AceShowbiz -

"The Walking Dead" has introduced one of the new characters in the upcoming season 4 by releasing a first-look photo. Making its way out via Entertainment Weekly, the picture shows Bob Stookey as portrayed by "The Wire" actor Lawrence Gilliard Jr.

Stookey is a former Army medic but unlike the comic version, he doesn't hail from Woodbury on the TV series. He's found by Daryl Dixon about a week before events pick up in season 4, EW learns.

New showrunner Scott M. Gimple explains this difference, "His backstory is not entirely the same as in the comic and the novel. I think he's seen things go bad over and over, and winding up in this stable place doesn't shake him from his experience. He struggles with that." Gimple adds that Stookey is "haunted" by his past.

Gilliard also dishes on his alter ego on the zombie drama series, "You can see there's something deeper and darker that's going on with this character, just from the first episode. We don't really know what it is. We just know he's got some issues that he's dealing with."

The new season of "Walking Dead" will roll out in October. Exec producer and VFX mastermind Greg Nicotero reveals to the printed edition of EW that for the filming of the premiere episode, "we had days where there were 150 walkers."

Scott M. Gimple also talks about the new threat, which was recently teased by comic book author Robert Kirkman. "The new threat is something you can't just stab in the face," the showrunner says. "You can't talk sense to it. You can't make a truce with it. It's beyond all that. It would be a threat in any world, but in this world it is much more terrifying."

AMC will hold a "Walking Dead" panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 19 at 1:35 P.M. in Hall H. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the comic books.