Michael James Shaw is the latest cast announcement made for Season 11 of The Walking Dead. He will play a character called Mercer.
On the star’s official Instagram account, he noted that he was “super excited” to be playing Mercer in The Walking Dead for the final season.
This announcement was met with much excitement among fans of the comic book series on which AMC’s TV show is based. As Den of Geek points out, this character is a comic book favorite.
The news also comes at an opportune time. Since the metal mask-wearing character appeared in The Walking Dead, speculation has swirled that this character could be Mercer. However, Sunday night’s episode revealed this character to be named Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari).
Who is Mercer in The Walking Dead comics?
Mercer is the de-facto leader of the Commonwealth Military.
While the Commonwealth hasn’t been officially introduced in the TV series, they are already on the scene. Stephanie, who Eugene (Josh McDermitt) has been in contact with, is a member of this group.
Viewers last saw Eugene’s group being confronted by several soldiers in armor. It is likely, this group will be headed by Mercer. Although, the announcement regarding Shaw joining the cast seemed to be directed specifically toward Season 11 of The Walking Dead.
So, while the storyline will be explored in Episode 20 of the current season, the potential is there that viewers will not get to lay eyes on Mercer until the new season premieres.
AMC made the announcement via their official Twitter account, also sharing an image of how he looks in the comics.
As previously reported, in the comic books, Mercer and Princess have a fairly substantial relationship in the comics. It is unclear yet whether AMC will follow the same storyline.
However, with Princess’s (Paola Lázaro) first introduction to Eugene’s group, she seemed pretty enamored with Eugene. So, the potential is there this could be changed for the television series.
As per usual, though, viewers will just have to continue tuning into upcoming episodes of The Walking Dead in order to find out more.
What has Michael James Shaw stared in prior to The Walking Dead?
For those trying to work out where they have seen Shaw before, he has starred in various movies and TV shows in the span of his career.
He featured as Corvus Glaive in the Marvel movies Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Shaw has also starred in several television series including Limitless, The Enemy Within, and Blood & Treasure, to name a few.
Episode 18 of The Walking Dead Season 10C will air at 9/8c on Sunday March 7 on AMC.