'The Walking Dead' Season 7 Release Date, Spoilers and Updates: Everything You Need To Know About Next Installment As Foretold by the Comics
With everyone's nose burrowed into the question, "Who did Negan kill?", it seems a good time as any to start exploring the non-Negan related storylines that would coming up in the next season of "The Walking Dead." The latest promo has revealed that King Ezekiel (played by Khary Payton) will be joining the AMC zombie series as the ruler of the Kingdom, where Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and co. can expect an ally against the ruthless, oppressive Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
But beyond this, what do the comic books foretell this coming Season 7? Here's everything you need to know about what happens next in the comics - and how likely they are to happen in "The Walking Dead" Season 7.
Negan's victim
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First off, there's the matter of Negan's victim. In the landmark 100th issue of "The Walking Dead" comics, it's Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) that ends up on the wrong side of Negan's trusty bat, Lucille. Polls online concede that Glenn might indeed be the latest casualty in Season 7, although several reports speculated that his lover, Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) is also a likely candidate.
If the show does decide to go that route, however, then it would be an especially cruel death, since Maggie is pregnant with Glenn's baby. Another fan theory is Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), although the actor himself has dropped a big hint that he's not the unfortunate victim.
What happens after the core member's death
Regardless of who Negan's victim will be, the cast and crew generally agree that his arrival in the group's lives will drastically change everything for them. As revealed by "The Walking Dead" Season 7 official synopsis, Rick and co are now under his thumb, and will be reckless to stray from his orders, lest they become his next victim.
Maggie, for one, will blame Rick for Glenn's death. She called him out for his "cowardice" in the face of Negan's threats. The group then head out for the Hilltop, leaving Alexandria virtually defenseless against the laying waste of the Saviors.
However, they will find an unlikely ally in King Ezekiel and his pet tiger Shiva. In the comics, they are introduced in "The Walking Dead" issue 108, and have been trading with the Hilltop. Ezekiel, who's no fan of Negan either, makes an alliance on behalf of the Kingdom with the Alexandrians and the Hilltop survivors to battle Negan's Saviors group.
Negan's eventual defeat is something fans greatly look forward to in Season 7. But since Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been promoted to series regular, looks like they're going to see a lot more of him for the next few seasons!
"The Walking Dead" Season 7 will be returning to AMC this October 2016, while the second half will air February 2017.
