ALL HAIL THE KING.

The official Breaking Bad season 5 poster has been released with a simple caption that couldn’t be clearer: Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) is back, and he’s poised to reign. At this point, AMC could have released a Post-it with a stick man drawing of Cranston and it would get us excited. But they understandably went further, and as far as key art goes, this image certainly has us eagerly awaiting that July 15 season 5 premiere date.

Here’s the official description to accompany the poster release: “No longer under the thumb of a mastermind criminal, Walt now assumes the role of one himself, as he and Jesse (Aaron Paul) look to build their own empire. Meanwhile, Skyler (Anna Gunn) struggles with the reality of her husband’s new role and Hank (Dean Norris) works to wrap up his investigation of Gus’ business.”

For a quick comparison to past key art, here’s a side-by-side collage of the first four season official posters:

Along with this poster release is another bit of good news: AMC will be encoring the first four seasons starting Sunday, June 10. So whether you’re a newcomer wanting to catch up before the final season begins or a hardcore fan who wants to relive the past four seasons of greatness, you can tune in every night and watch the series from beginning to end.

Though this image seems to indicate the final season will complete Walter’s transformation from meek chemistry teacher to full-fledged Albuquerque drug king pin, even Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan isn’t entirely sure how the series will end. At The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Emmy roundtables, Gilligan revealed, “I would like to know more about how it ends, frankly. I would feel more comfortable.” But one thing Gilligan is sure of is wanting “the show to end in as satisfying a way as possible” (according to Zap2it). “That’s all that matters to me, no matter what the specifics are.”

Similarly, co-star Aaron Paul (who plays Jesse Pinkman) was unable to share specifics about the upcoming season on Conan last night. He did, however, say, “there may or may not be a lot of deaths.” (Translation: there will be a LOT of deaths.) Simply describing it as very “violent,” “dark” and the “dirtiest” season yet, Paul pretty much solidified that as fact. But in terms of who those deaths will be, we probably won’t find out until the season actually begins, July 15.

Check out the rest of Paul’s clip on Conan below:

(Images courtesy of AMC)

Jenn Lee

Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Jenn grew up in Ohio before moving to Seoul, Korea, where she attended international school and failed to learn Korean. From there she went on to earn a BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania before settling in Seattle, where she now spends too much time pondering the power of narrative in TV shows and novels. While she loves a good smart comedy (a la Community or Parks and Recreation), her favorite current show is Breaking Bad; all-time mentions include Arrested DevelopmentLost and Friends. When she’s not consuming television or literature, she’s savoring pastries and searching for the city’s ultimate sandwich.