‘Talking Dead’ lineup: Khary Payton, Greg Nicotero, and DeAngelo Williams to discuss midseason premiere

Tonight, “The Walking Dead” will be returning with the final eight episodes of the season, and with that, there’s certainly also going to be opportunities for discussion! There’s a new episode of “Talking Dead” coming up beyond it, and this will prove to be a rather great opportunity to unwind whatever it is we see happen in this first installment in months.

As for who will be appearing alongside Chris Hardwick as a guest … well, we already spoiled that for you in the title!

Khary Payton – Let’s begin with the man responsible for King Ezekiel, who we figure is going to play a key role in whatever uprising opportunity is there with Negan. Ezekiel will likely play a big role in tonight’s episode, given that we’ll be seeing the beginning of the recruitment effort. The King already knows two important people with ties to Rick in Caryl and Morgan — they can certainly vouch for his abilities to get stuff done. (They also probably need to be persuaded themselves to be an active part in this.)

Greg Nicotero – The special-effects guru is also an executive producer, and frequent director for the show. He is in fact directing tonight’s new episode “Rock in the Road.”

DeAngelo Williams – This qualifies as the “totally random choice of the week.” We’re not sure what the Pittsburgh Steelers running back has to do with anything, other than that he must be a pretty big fan of the show. We do know that he’s a smart and pretty socially-conscious guy, so he could have some good insight on the show … even if this is hardly familiar territory for him. Maybe it’s a good opportunity for him to showcase some broadcasting skills if this is something that he wants to do after football?

For those wanting to check out some further news regarding “The Walking Dead” prior to tonight’s episode, be sure to head over here! That’s where you can check out our list of the people we feel are (probably) in the greatest amount of danger entering tonight’s episode. There will be a full review coming later tonight, so keep your eyes peeled for that. (Photo: AMC.)