The 8 Best Walking Dead Easter Eggs You Probably Didn't Notice

Or: The Lighter Side of the End of the World. Don't miss the shocking season premiere of the most popular drama on television when The Walking Dead returns to airwaves tonight. 9/8c, only on AMC.

1. That walker looks like he knows some sweet riffs.

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What looks familiar about this stumbling, fumbling walker last seen scowling his way through the Walking Dead webisodes? Why, he's other than Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, a self-professed horror fanatic and known bard of the zombie apocalypse. Rumor has it that fellow metalhead Ozzy Osbourne was going to have a similar undead cameo, but the special effects department thought he looked too believable. That was before they put any make-up on him.

2. What's that on Carl's shirt?

Via amctv.com

Eagle-eyed fans of comics creator Robert Kirkman should recognize that atomic pawprint on Carl's t-shirt as the mark of Science Dog. This half-man/half-dog superhero hybrid first appeared in the pages of Kirkman's Invincible, which has lead many Walking Dead-heads to posit that a few members of Rick's ragtag group are hardened comic book aficionados, even after the fall of civilization. Sadly, this theory leaves little room for the Science Dog Meets Michonne team-up that we're all aching to see.

3. "I find your lack of brains...disturbing."

Rob Kim / Getty Images

It's been said that you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than zombie-infested Atlanta. Just ask this strangely familiar zombie soldier, who gamers and sci-fi geeks will likely recognize as actor Sam Witwer, and who previously lent his face and voice to the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games. Word on the street is that this undead Sith apprentice was originally planned to spearhead a zombified spin-off series set on a post-zombie apocalypse Endor. Or maybe were just hankering to see some undead Ewoks go toe-to-toe with the good ol' Dixon brothers. Can you blame us?

4. Even after the zombie apocalypse, he is the one who knocks.

graphics8.nytimes.com / Via tv.yahoo.com

Remember when rugged redneck Daryl Dixon rummaged through his brother's stash in season two, and we caught a quick glimpse of inconspicuous "crystal" at the bottom of the bag? As any fan of fine television dramas can tell you, that's no ordinary meth, but the trademark "Blue Sky" from another blockbuster AMC show, Breaking Bad. But is it a playful nod to The Walking Dead's sister series, or an instance of spine-tingling foreshadowing for Heisenberg's ill-fated future? If it means Walter White will eventually join Rick's group of survivors, we'll keep believing that it's a little bit of both.

5. Speaking of which...

Via imcdb.com

Remember that scene where Glenn takes a sleek, sexy new Dodge Challenger for a zombie-thumping joyride? Now, remember that scene where Breaking Bad's Walter White takes a similarly sleek and sexy Dodge Challenger for a joyride (sans zombies, natch), and, when confronted by an angry Skylar, is urged to return the car...to a "Glenn"? We're liking this Breaking Dead theory more and more.

6. Who's that hella dope walker chowing down on a deer?

Brian Underwood / CC BY-SA http://2.0 / Flickr: cheerfulstoic

Who else but nerdcore pioneer and all-around geek guru MC Frontalot? While Front hasn't yet made an appearance in The Walking Dead TV series, he -- and fellow nerdcore artist MC Hawking -- were both drawn into early issues of the comic books by then-artist Tony Moore, an admitted fan of the duo's flows.

7. Welcome to the Wiltshire Estates. Population: dead, and counting.

Via walkingdead.wikia.com

Ever wonder why the TV versions of Rick's survivors never made a detour to the doomed Wiltshire Estates? While it was never flat-out stated by the characters, Wiltshire did, in fact, make an appearance as the gloomy suburbs in the season two episode "Secrets," which saw a handful of survivors practice their sharpshooting skills on the community's long-dead walkers.

8. Who knew that walkers played BASEketball?

Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

If the star-studded horrors of The Walking Dead are any indication, we're bound to run into more famous people after the zombie apocalypse brings humanity to its blood-spattered knees. Like this eerily familiar member of the undead played by Dian Bachar, who you'll probably recognize as Kenny "Squeak" Scolari from sports comedy epic BASEketball.