This is excellent news. Michael Raymond-James, creepy-baby’s dead dad Rene on True Blood, beloved reformed criminal Britt on filmed-in-my-hometown gone-too-soon Terriers, and newly-minted personal friend of mine – hey, he replied to a tweet of mine over the weekend, that counts – will be appearing in the second half of season two of The Walking Dead.

ShockTilYouDrop reports that he is one of the two men seen at the end of this clip that we showed you last week, from the upcoming opening episode of season 2.5; he’ll be the one on the right. They also report that The Walking Dead comic creator Robert Kirkman has teased “these two could pose a threat to Rick and his crew.” We would agree, based on the clip:

The man on the left at the end of the clip is reported to be Aaron Munoz (Cadillac Records), and in fact his appearance in the opening episode is credited on IMDb as “Tony.” No such luck regarding Michael Raymond-James‘s IMDb listing. Maybe he’s just being coy. Well, we’ll find out in just a few weeks!

The Walking Dead season 2.5 starring Andrew Lincoln, Scott Wilson, and soon Michael Raymond-James, premieres on Sunday, February 12 at 9/8c on AMC.