Walking Dead Star is Unhappy With Ezekiel's Final Story, Makes It Known
The Walking Dead's Khary Payton explains why he is not pleased with the arc of his character Ezekiel Sutton.
The finale episode of The Walking Dead will air on November 20, 2022. The original series was canceled to give life to its many spinoffs that will carry on exploring the Walking Dead universe. The show's cancellation after season 11 came to the disappointment of its numerous fans and apparently some of the cast members. Khary Payton told Insider that he was frustrated over the journey of his character Ezekiel coming to an end.
"There are so many places and situations that I would've loved to explore," the actor explained.
We don't know yet how the story of the King will end in the series, but it has been one hell of a journey. Ezekiel was a self-proclaimed King of a community known as the Kingdom, the co-leader of the Militia and the Coalition, a member of the Hilltop Council, got and survived thyroid cancer in the post-apocalyptic world, opened a secret clinic for those who can't afford healthcare. The guy once had a pet tiger, for god's sake. It is only natural that both fans and the actor playing the role want more. Payton expressed hope that Ezekiel will survive the finale of the series so that there was a possibility for him to return to the role one day.
"That'll mean that there's a chance that I could play not just flashbacks, but before and after," the actor said.
Though Payton said that he would like to film more adventures of Ezekiel, the actor also made clear that he understood why his character was given less time to progress than he would like to. Payton highly praised the show for "beautifully constructed" deep characters and added that each of the characters deserved screen time which is always in shortage.
The world of The Walking Dead continues through its many spinoffs. There are currently six of them: Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, Dead City, and two yet untitled series coming next year. So it is reasonable to assume that Khary Payton will get a chance to play Ezekiel again in some prequel or sequel series. The actor confessed that he would jump at such a chance.
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed 'cause I really would love to play Ezekiel again one day," Payton said.