The Walking Dead star Khary Payton reveals his desire to explore the origin of his character, King Ezekiel, and how he rose to power after the zombie apocalypse. King Ezekiel was first introduced in the seventh season of The Walking Dead as the leader of the Kingdom settlement. His story in the series veers off from the comics, but one element that wasn’t fully fleshed out in either was his origin and how he rose to become the leader of the Kingdom.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant for Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!, Payton also shared the story he still wants to explore for his Walking Dead character, King Ezekiel. He explained why he wanted to delve deeper into Ezekiel’s origins and how he went from a zookeeper and amateur actor to leading the Kingdom. Payton specifically references Better Call Saul as an inspiration and revealed that if he were asked to return for a spin-off of The Walking Dead, he’d love to return. Check out Payton’s full quote below:

Khary Payton: I really would love to go back in time and explore how Ezekiel came to become a king in the apocalypse. Do a Better Call Saul prequel and see how someone goes from being a zookeeper to having people decide that we’re going to listen to his outrageous idea of how you rebuild society, and how somebody comes to decide that, “Yeah, this seems to be working. I’m going to run with this.”

I think it would be actually really interesting, but I have no idea what their plans are. And if they do it, I would love to be a part of it. But I’m also a realist when it comes to these things, and I told myself, “All good things come to an end.” It’s not the first time or the last time I’ve said goodbye to an awesome story that I was telling. And so I’m hoping that it’ll come back around.

But in the meantime, the beautiful thing about my job is the wondrous variety. And so I’m excited to see what happens next. But man, if they call saying they want to do something like that with Ezekiel, I’ll be there in a heartbeat.

Why King Ezekiel’s Story Is Worth Exploring In A Walking Dead Spin-Off

Pieces of Ezekiel’s history are known, including his family’s history of thyroid cancer as well as his time as a zookeeper and amateur actor before the apocalypse. The Walking Dead universe has been expanding through spin-offs for some time with Fear The Walking Dead, Tales of The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, and many others. Some of these spin-offs have introduced new characters surviving the apocalypse, while others have continued the stories of beloved characters from the original series.

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Although fans know who Ezekiel will become, a prequel series could show his progression from actor and zookeeper to the brave leader he was when originally introduced in season seven. The Walking Dead is a world of tragedy, trauma, grief, and hardship, but a prequel following him could have a modicum of hope because of Ezekiel’s heart.

Some of the spin-offs have explored how other characters evolved in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak, but those have been newly introduced characters. This would be an opportunity to fully delve into the early days of a character that fans already know and love. King Ezekiel has an engaging and compelling story in The Walking Dead and is a character whose origin is worth exploring.