As was we saw in the Season 2 finale, there’s a new badass in town – or is our group coming to her town? – on The Walking Dead. Remember the eerie hooded person with the zombies on leashes? Well that wasn’t the actor they eventually cast; the giant hood she wore served the dual purpose of adding to the mysterious feel and obscuring her face, since the Season 3 role hadn’t yet been cast.

Now we’re happy to bring you the first, fierce look at Danai Gurira as Michonne. NICE.

Executive Producer and comic creator Robert Kirkman told EW that there will be “little tweaks and differences” between the comic version of Michonne and the TV series version, but gave the meeting between Andrea and Michonne as an example: “We saw that her introduction is slightly different from how it was in the comic, and her interaction with Andrea is really going to be a really cool addition to the character that I think will get television viewers up to speed, and they’ll get to know her a lot faster than comic book readers did.”

The Season 3 shoot began recently, and no premiere date has been announced yet. We will of course keep you posted.

The Walking Dead Season 3, starring Andrew Lincoln, Lauren Cohan, Norman Reedus,Laurie Holden, Danai Gurira, Steven Yeun, and IronE Singleton, will air later in 2012 on AMC.