12 Days of TWD: 3 characters we’re excited to learn more about
With each new season of The Walking Dead comes some new element of both struggle and strength throughout the series. From new characters to new settings and new battles to face; there is still an element of surprise in the show, 7 seasons in.
Most people might think a long-running series about the zombie apocalypse could be played out; what on earth could keep fans interested? The truth is – it’s the way human life is the focus of the show, not the undead and the outbreak, that keep us coming back for more. It’s also just as much the hearts and spirits of the characters and the bond that the cast members have with one another and with us.
With each new character comes a new part of our Walking Dead Family and new opportunities for relationships to be built. For the second half of season 7 and beyond, we’re curious about some of the characters we’ve been introduced to recently and what makes them tick, who they were before the apocalypse, and what their pasts mean for the future of the group we’ve grown to love.
Negan
It would be easy to presume that fans of TWD would want nothing more than to be done with Negan, never learn of his backstory or hear his name again. However, this fandom doesn’t really do easy, and we’re all (not so) patiently waiting to find out more about Negan and what made him who he is today. What does he get out of taking lives, is it his pride, or maybe is it justice for a life he couldn’t save in the past?
Of course, he’s got a story in the comics, but some fans don’t read past where the tv series is while some have opted not to read them until the series ends, so not everyone knows about Negan and why Lucille is so important to him. Negan’s story is also one of the darkest in the series, and while no acts of that sort of terror are justified, it would make sense to find out that he did experience something rather tragic that turned him into the bat wielding, no shit taking man that he is.
Jesus
While Jesus has been on the series for a little while now, we still don’t know that much about who he is and where he came from. As season 7 has progressed, we’ve seen him at The Hilltop and we’ve seen him begin to take charge of some situations there, but it looks like that’s a new development for him; seems as if he found people worth fighting for.
We think it would be incredible for his backstory to be explored too, who was his family and what happened to them, what about his friends? Will his story also match up with who he is in the comics or will they spin some of it for television and how is it possible that he has found a sense of peace in such a world full of turmoil?
King Ezekiel
We had the pleasure of speaking to Khary Payton, who plays King Ezekiel, in Atlanta and we asked him if he could give us a quote (without saying too much) that would sum up who Ezekiel would be, what he stands for, and his response made us more curious than ever to find out what his character would be bringing to the table as season 7 progressed.
‘He’s too bright to succumb to the darkness.’ Is the response we got from Khary and we think it says a lot. Clearly, season 7 of TWD hasn’t contained all that much joy and light but King Ezekiel has faced it all with strength and a smile; he’s confident in who he is, what he knows, and he won’t be brought down because of the bad that he encounters. We’d love to find out more about his character too, what made him so strong – he told a special story to Carol one evening, but we’d like to see it play out. Is he really a self-made prophet? Did he experience something in his past that made optimism the only way he survived?
What characters are you hoping to find out more about when The Walking Dead returns in February? Let us know!
‘…but I knew him’
