'The Walking Dead' Season 7 Casting Rumors: Comic Tiger Shiva To Be CGI And Animatronics?

"The Walking Dead" season 7 casting rumors suggest that the iconic comic tiger, Shiva, won't be played by an actual, living beast. Instead, she'll just be a mix of CGI and animatronics.

The news comes to Design & Trend via the spoiler experts at The Spoiling Dead Fans. The group's most recent post indicates that Ezekiel's furry companion will be rendered as opposed to real.

 Happy #nationalpetday! Hope you love your pet today as much as Ezekiel loves Shiva ___

A photo posted by The Walking Dead (@thewalkingdead) on Apr 11, 2016 at 1:22pm PDT

The mention is quite brief, but it says that episode 3 of season 7 will partially take place at Ezekiel's layer called The Kingdom. "The Walking Dead" cast and crew have spent several days filming inside Tyler Perry's closed studio, and it's believed to contain the TV replica of the beloved comic locale. As for Shiva, however, the tease specifically says "rumor has it that she'll be a mix of animatronics and CGI." A playful "rawr" was also added for comedic effect.

For those not in the loop on the printed lore, Shiva and Ezekiel rule The Kingdom with an iron fist. Prior to the apocalypse, she was born in captivity as a zoo tiger. Ezekiel saves her from fatal bleeding shortly after the outbreak, and the two become fast friends. While she's kept in a cage at night, she often helps The Kingdom's residents take down large swarms of walkers when necessary.

It would have been awesome to see an actual tiger take on the important role in the flesh, but this rumor suggests that it won't be happening on AMC's TV series. It's unknown if the decision to use CGI and animatronic parts was made for the sake of cost or safety, but our guess is that it's probably a mixture of both. We normally wouldn't report on such unsubstantiated speculation, but The Spoiling Dead Fans has such a strong track record for accuracy that this tidbit was hard to ignore.

Prior to filming episode 3, our sources also indicated that season 7's early scripts feature one character's captured encounter with Negan following the death of a still-unknown main cast member. We also have reason to believe that it's Carol and Morgan who bring Ezekiel and Shiva's Kingdom subplot into fruition.

"The Walking Dead" season 7 is expected to air this October.

How do you feel about Shiva being recreated with CGI and animatronics? Will "The Walking Dead" season 7 be the best one yet? Tell us in the poll and comments section!