Negan is just the first of relatively many new faces coming into The Walking Dead. The other character who is set to take the series into a new direction is Ezekiel, the appointed king of The Kingdom community.
The biggest and most interesting about him would have to be the fact that he has a pet tiger. And for comic fans, a common question is how exactly the show will bring this creature to life.
Entertainment Weekly got the details from executive producer Greg Nicotero on how they not only brought Shiva to life, but also The Kingdom, its inhabitants and its king.
Nicotero revealed that the Kingdom will be the biggest community to date. This means it beats even the scenic Alexandria compound in terms of size. He also revealed that it's an entirely different, almost fantastical world, given the post-apocalypse. Inside the gates, it features a colorful and vibrant world that appears detached from reality. The fact that they have a king with a pet tiger—how do you feed that, in a post-apocalyptic world?—seems proof enough.
"He recognized, very much like the people in Alexandria, that they need someone to follow, and they need someone to lead them. And Ezekiel took that opportunity and created this larger-than-life person that people can follow and people can look up to… So Ezekiel has built up a mystique about himself and about his community, and in doing so created a place where his world can flourish."
The Walking Dead's new season will also introduce a few new characters from the kingdom, who Nicotero stated are far detached from what The Walking Dead already offers. In fact, Nicotero revealed that the way they approached the Kingdom is to make it seem like they are filming an entirely different series.
As for Shiva, the creature may have had the biggest work, digital effects-wise. Nicotero revealed that he was a mix of animatronics and CGI. Not only that, it was a collaboration between Nicotero, digital effects, and Scott M. Gimple to ensure that they got Shiva's look right.
The Walking Dead is coming back to AMC on Oct. 24 for its season premiere of the seventh season.
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