The Walking Dead newcomer Okea Eme-Akwari

 Who is Okea Eme-Akwari, who joined The Walking Dead in the season 10 finale?

Okea Eme-Akwari plays Elijah, the masked companion of Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan), that first showed his masked face in season 10 of The Walking Dead.  Fans have been speculating about who this man is since we first saw him come upon Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Alden (Callan McAuliffe) with his wicked-looking weapons at the ready.

Fans came up with all sorts of theories about who this masked man could be. Guesses ranged from Duane, Morgan’s son, to Morgan himself, Kal, or Eduardo, the hilltop guards; people thought it could also be Beth. Social media was abuzz with possibilities.

In November 2020, TWD Twitter account announced that Eme-Akwari had been cast as this masked man and that the character’s name is Elijah. This announcement occurred a month after the finale aired, and we got a better glimpse of Elijah in action.

Eme-Akwari is currently starring in the Netflix mega-hit Cobra Kai, where he plays Shawn. Recently, he was in Greenland with Gerard Butler. Reading through his IMDB listings shows him listed for all six of the bonus episodes of The Walking Dead, but until those episodes air, we won’t know for sure.

The actor told Cobra Kai Companion that it is a cool experience to be a part of these two different fandoms. He is excited to be a part of both fandoms that have garnered global popularity. He speculated that if filming schedules hadn’t been postponed, he might not have had the opportunity to audition for the part of Elijah. He also stated that he hopes Elijah will appear in the series’s eleventh and final season.

I am excited to see who Elijah is, and I hope we get some answers to how he and Maggie met and what has transpired while Maggie has been away.

February 28 will see the return of The Walking Dead on AMC. There will be six bonus episodes that will finish out season ten.