The official trailer for season 3 of Into the Badlands introduces the series' next "big bad", Pilgrim (Babou Cessay), and previews the war between the barons of the Badlands. We also get to see the return of Nathaniel Moon (Sherman Augustus), a highly skilled swordsman who guest starred in a season 2 episode.

Developed by Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, AMC's Into the Badlands is a martial arts TV series set in a post-apocalyptic world. The series follows Sunny (Danny Wu), a trained killer who keeps a records of his kills with tattoos on his back, and M.K. (Aramis Knight), a young boy with a mysterious power tied to the mythical city of Azra that no one has been able to locate. Scheming barons such as the Widow (Emily Beecham) often use Sunny and M.K. as pawns in their quest to take control of the Badlands. The series was renewed for a 16-episode third season last year.

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AMC has released the full official trailer for season 3 of Into the Badlands. The trailer gives fans a look at the new antagonist, Pilgrim, a religious zealot looking to build a "new kingdom". With an army behind him, Pilgrim comes to the Badlands offering salvation but demanding submission. Referring to himself as "the messiah", Pilgrim asks M.K. to join him in bringing hope to the Badlands. At his command are two ruthless teenage soldiers with black eyes, who appear to share the same power as M.K. Pilgrim and the two teenagers are among the five new characters to join the cast for season 3. The other new characters include Pilgrim's priestess Cressida (Lorraine Toussaint) and Gaius Chau (Lewis Tan).

The trailer also shows us what the Widow will be up to when the series returns. The Widow, currently at war with Baron Chau (Eleanor Matsuura), fights with Nathaniel Moon in an attempt to recruit him to her side. Fans may recall that Moon was a talented swordsman with a background similar to Sunny's. After killing 999 people, he wanted Sunny to be his 1000th kill. However, he was unable to defeat Sunny in combat. It's possible that Moon may join forces with the Widow in order to get a rematch with his enemy.

Showrunner Alfred Gough teased that season 3 would include bloodier, more "batshit crazy" martial arts fight scenes, which is indicated in the trailer by several sword battles and an impressive number of severed heads.

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Season 3 of Into the Badlands premieres Sunday, April 22 on AMC.

Source: AMC