Below-Beltway-Xander-Berkeley

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains potential SPOILERS for the upcoming second half of ‘The Walking Dead’ Season Six.  If you want to avoid SPOILERS, you may want to turn back.

Veteran actor Xander Berkley has joined ‘The Walking Dead’ as Gregory.  In the comics, Gregory is the cowardly leader of The Hilltop, another relatively peaceful settlement, that Maggie eventually comes to lead.  But when the character and his village are introduced, they are part of Negan’s community, meaning that they live under the arrangement that in exchange for their safety, they turn over half their food and supplies to Negan‘s clan The Saviors.

Gregory in the comics, by Charlie Adlard.
Gregory in the comics, by Charlie Adlard.

The show tends to deviate from the comic book source material, so there’s no telling how Berkley’s Gregory will come across.  In the comics, pardon the colloquialism, he’s a piece of sh**.  He rules over The Hilltop because the citizens there don’t realize they can do better.  Every action he takes is in his own best interest and the second he meets any opposition, he collapses like a house of cards in a stiff breeze.  An unattractive old man, he also attempts to woo any attractive women in his vicinity, including Maggie, in a play to feed his feeble ego.

Apparently, his TV version will follow a similar storyline to the comic character, which will put him at odds with another new addition, Jesus a.k.a. Paul Monroe, played by Tom Payne.  Since The Saviors and now Hilltop are part of the story, can The Kingdom be far behind?  Now THAT will be something!

Berkley was announced as a new addition to ‘The Walking Dead’ cast in September, but his role was unannounced.  Berkley is a familiar face and has been a series regular on several genre shows, most recently ‘Zoo’ as well as ‘Nikita’, ‘Being Human’, ’12 Monkeys’, ‘The Mentalist’ and ‘Jericho’ and has lent his voice to various comic book-based animated projects, including ‘Batman/Superman: Public Enemies’ (as Captain Atom), ‘Spectacular Spider-Man’ (as Mysterio) and ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’ (as Sinestro).

Are you curious how Gregory/Xander Berkley will factor into the show?

‘The Walking Dead’ Season Six returns on February 14, 2016.