All hail King Ezekial. The infamous character and his feisty feline from The Walking Dead comics will make their series debut when the AMC hit returns for Season 7 later this October. As if to roll out his royal red carpet welcome, the network released a new Ezekiel-heavy promo and image.
In the comics, Ezekiel is the leader of The Kingdom, a college campus that has been transformed into a sustainable community. It’s somewhat like Alexandria, but the people treat Ezekiel as a king. He used to be a zookeeper before the zombie virus outbreak began, which accounts for his pet tiger that protects him from walkers and similar threats.
The character was revealed in AMC’s The Walking Dead in a Season 7 trailer from San Diego Comic-Con. Khary Payton, who voices Cyborg in Teen Titans Go! and the upcoming Justice League Action cartoon, portrays the character, who takes the spotlight in the promo below:
As you can see, Morgan is picked up by Ezekiel’s men and brought into The Kingdom. Danger, obviously, is never too far behind. Plus, there’s disturbing imagery of bloodied pigs, a nasty rooftop tumble, and walkers crawling out of a sand pile. It’ll be interesting to see how the producers incorporate the comic book arc into the series. Will Ezekiel eventually come to blows with Negan?
Speaking of Negan, it’s kind of remarkable how The Walking Dead has been able to bulk up its marketing campaign with trailers and promos, while keeping the identity of Negan’s victim a secret. Just when we think there’s nothing else they can show us without spoiling something, another clip debuts.
We’ll finally get an answer to who won’t be coming back, and much more when The Walking Dead returns on Sunday, October 23rd at 9 p.m. on AMC.
