The Walking Dead premiere is lurching and grunting towards us like a dang zombie. That’s right, folks, like from the show.Executive producer Greg Nicotero will return to the director's chair for the season 7 premiere and bring with him the answer to the question: Who did Negan kill Nicotero spoke with EW and gave the skinny on what to expect from the upcoming season. He says that the creative team chose the death as the starting point for season 7 rather than the ending of season 6 because they wanted to explore its effect on people.“Yeah, it’s a cliffhanger and I get that people were anxious and excited about knowing what happened, and seeing where it goes with the story, but truth of the matter is, that death propels our story forward, and has a direct effect on people,” Nicotero tells EW. “And that’s why you really want it to be the anchor point of our season 7 as opposed to the parting moment of season 6, and then sort of starting already partially into our story.”Perhaps more excitingly, and more germane to what’s coming next, Nicotero says the cast will be expanding.“I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to get a chance to meet a lot of new people,” Nicotero tells EW.No word yet on what that means, but one possible answer is Ezekiel, a comic fan favorite with a tiger. He leads a group called “The Kingdom.” So, good news, we’ll have another world to comprehend before Rick and the Rickettes inevitably nuke it with fire, or it gets overrun by walkers, or whatever. Some evidence points to his presence, like an eagle-eyed fan spotting his tiger on set . Oh, and there was a casting call for someone that seems an awful lot like him . Read about him here , but possible spoilers abound.