Loading ...Who Is The New Character Carl Found On ‘The Walking Dead’?
(Photo: AMC)SOURCE: COMICBOOK
BY: CAMERON BONOMOLO
Spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead 8×01.
In the season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead, Carl (Chandler Riggs) crossed paths with a strange traveler (Avi Nash), who was scared off when Rick (Andrew Lincoln) fired a warning shot. Not finding the loner to be a threat, Carl returned to the spot to leave supplies and a note of apology.
The question is: who was that guy?
As pointed out by a report earlier this year, The Walking Dead put out a casting call for the role of “Abbud,” who was described as “an innately likable Muslim American whose nerves are, let’s say, jangled, because he’s flown solo for too long in zombieland.” No character by that name appears in the books, but shows frequently cast characters under fake names for a variety of reasons — like not ruining surprises.
Nash was briefly glimpsed in the San Diego Comic Con trailer, and made his debut — albeit briefly — in the season 8 opener, “Mercy.” Nash’s currently unnamed character could be Saddiq, an Arab-American survivor from the Oceanside community who was first introduced in issue #127 of creator Robert Kirkman’s long-running comic book series. The kickoff of the “A New Beginning” volume, the issue actually came after Rick and co. waged all out war against Negan and the Saviors.
While the show sticks closely to the original source material, the live-action adaptation has never followed the comics to the letter: the show’s survivors came across the isolated Oceanside community in season 7, despite Oceanside not being introduced in the books until after the “All Out War” story — which serves as the basis for season 8 — had ended.
With the show introducing Oceanside early, it stands to reason that Saddiq could come along earlier, too. In the books (spoilers), Saddiq assimilated into the Alexandria community and eventually struck up a romantic relationship with Rosita (played in the show by Christian Serratos).
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.
