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‘The Walking Dead’ Spoilers: A Beloved Character Confirmed For Season 7

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 00:00 PST, Jun 4, 2016

In some really fun Walking Dead Season 7 spoilers, it sounds like a beloved character from the comic books will not only be making an appearance this upcoming season, but the character might also be shown in the ComicCon Walking Dead trailer promoting the upcoming season. Comicbook reported that not only will Ezekiel play a major role on The Walking Dead, but he will, in fact, have his beloved pet tiger Shiva with him.

In a spoiler from the comic books, Ezekiel is a former zookeeper who leads a community called The Kingdom. While it was not clearly said last season, the man that Rick and Daryl encountered that escaped is part of this community. In The Walking Dead Season 6 finale, two men saved Carol and Morgan, and those were also members of The Kingdom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5xRNM7CRd4

Shiva is the name of the tiger that stands by Ezekiel’s side in The Walking Dead comics, one of his beloved pets that he saved after the zombie apocalypse. The tiger is not only a pet of Ezekiel but a protector and one of his closest companions, someone he almost treasures more than his human followers.

According to IGN, Shiva will be a mixture of “animatronics and CGI” on The Walking Dead. The news that broke claimed that Shiva was seen on set, but if that is the case, that means that someone saw the animatronic tiger because it is assumed that they won’t have a real tiger on the set at all to play Shiva.

There will be a lot of new characters arriving on The Walking Dead. Ezekiel has been cast, but the producers and cast have kept the identity of the actor a closely guarded secret. When Negan was cast, the producers revealed it was genre favorite Jeffery Dean Morgan from the start and then made fans wait until the season finale to bring him out.

Along with Ezekiel and Shiva, the members of The Kingdom will also arrive including Ezekiel’s right-hand man Richard. At least in The Walking Dead comics, Ezekiel is considered the leader of the Kingdom and sits on a throne with a chained Shiva by his side. The two of them were also instrumental in helping Jesus save Alexandria Safe Zone from a Savior attack in the comics.

There is also the entire batch of Saviors to introduce. Fans already met Dwight, the man who betrayed Daryl and then later killed Denise. However, there are also some other major members of the evil group that should appear on The Walking Dead, including Connor and Mark.

While the Saviors are the villains in Season 7 of The Walking Dead, Ezekiel and Shiva lead up some of the best allies that Rick and company could hope for in the upcoming war against Negan. Depending on how long the story with the Saviors plays out, this should keep Ezekiel on for at least one full season. Shiva’s fate is more of a mystery.

It is also fun to think about what Ezekiel and Shiva’s arrival on The Walking Dead will do to the new relationship between Rick and Michonne. Fans of the comic know that this is a relationship that only exists on the TV show and that there is a roadblock ahead if the show starts to parallel the comics when it comes to Ezekiel’s story.

For now, everything is speculation. All that is known is that The Walking Dead has cast the actor to play Ezekiel, and he is there ready to film. Shiva will also be in Season 7 and has been “spotted” on the set, presumedly as the animatronic.

Finally, there is word that there will be a special trailer cut for ComicCon and that the first appearance of Shiva will happen at that time. All that Walking Dead fans can hope for is that the CGI and animatronics can do Shiva justice.

[Image via AMC]

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