Far from spelling the franchise’s doom, the upcoming ending of The Walking Dead seems to have freed up AMC to put a lot more spinoff projects set in the post-apocalyptic universe in motion. We know that Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride are getting their own sequel series, set after season 11, while anthology show Tales of the Walking Dead will touch on different times, characters and places every week, but that’s just scratching the surface.
Indeed, there are even more unannounced projects being developed, which will mostly be limited series or films highlighting various individuals from the parent show. And one person that the network is reportedly interested in doing more with is Ezekiel via some sort of prequel. At least, that’s according to sources close to WGTC, the same ones who previously told us that Neve Campbell is returning for Scream 5 and a new Exorcist movie is in the works, both of which were correct.
It seems that this Ezekiel project is in the early stages as it’s currently unsure what form it will take. It could be a movie, a miniseries or something else focusing on the former King of the Kingdom’s origins. Right now, we just know that AMC wants to explore the character further.
Of course, we already know a little about Ezekiel’s backstory from the show, but there’s still much to be seen. For instance, we’ve been told that he was a zookeeper who helped Shiva the tiger when she was hurt. She then became his close companion after the walker outbreak and his rise to the throne. We don’t know the ins and outs of his royal ascent, though, so that would be fascinating to see.
The TV character has always been very different from his comics counterpart, too, so it would be fresh for both sets of fans. In the source material, Ezekiel was killed by Alpha, but in the show, he’s still kicking. That said, he is suffering from thyroid cancer, which he believes to be terminal without proper treatment.
We’ll see what happens next to Ezekiel when The Walking Dead returns early next year for six additional episodes, which are already in production.