The Walking Dead’s Michael Cudlitz discusses new characters, what to expect

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The second half of the fourth season of AMC's hit series "The Walking Dead" is certain to deliver a lot of surprises and at the end of last week’s episode, ‘Inmates’ (read our recap HERE), we saw the arrival of three new characters who have been plucked from the pages of Robert Kirkman’s comics, to the delight of many fans who have been anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Michael Cudlitz ("Southland") plays Abraham Ford, a former army sergeant and sports coach who has formed a small survivor group alongside his lover, Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos), and science expert Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt). The three of them ran into Tara and Glenn in the aftermath of a walker attack, but their degree of friendliness was left pretty ambiguous. Michael Cudlitz recently spoke with THR about the new characters and what we can expect in the coming episodes.

According to Cudlitz there may be some elements in future episodes of "The Walking Dead" that will be familiar to fans of the comics:

“A lot of things happen in the comic that affect how he operates and how he moves through this world and the decisions he makes. A lot of that is ripped directly from the comics, as well as the whole chunk of time where the comic left off and where we meet them now. There are some elements that they’ve introduced that will make Abraham’s back story that much more tragic.

“All three of those characters are going to seem extremely familiar to those who know the comics. They’re almost exact up to the point where we meet them. Where they go from here, we’ll all learn that together.”

Unlike most of the characters in "The Walking Dead" who are just struggling to survive, these three new characters to the show have a clear destination in mind: Washington, D.C. There, they believe, lies the key to ending the zombie apocalypse and returning things to normal. Cudlitz shares:

“You know they’re headed for Washington but the audience will learn all that in the next episode as to where they’re going, why they think they’re going there, what information Eugene has and that Abraham and Rosita believe him. There is no subtlety in it. It’s this wonderful expositional moment that’s literally ripped out of the comics where you meet these people, learn who they are as individuals and what they need from anyone else — and you better f—ing be on board, because you don’t have a choice!”

Cudlitz also shared a little about his character Abraham, stating…

“They’re not locked in this day-to-day rhetorical self-examination of life and what does it all mean…  Abraham is more like, ‘By the time you all have your f—ing meeting, I’ll have handled it already.’ They are not a Boy Scout Troop…

“He’s not necessarily someone who is going to be the king — or someone you’d even want to be the king — he’s the guy you’d want as your first, the guy leading a section of a larger plan. Ultimately, he’s good for [Rick's] group because there are a lot of reluctant leaders and people doing what they have to do. Abraham is a leader by nature; he’s not reluctant about it.”

I think Abraham is going to add an interesting dynamic to the series and hope he's on for the long haul. Then again, this IS "The Walking Dead" and no one is ever safe.