Who Is Chris Rock Playing On 'Empire'?

With the Season 2 premiere of Empire is quickly approaching, filming for the show has finally resumed Chicago. Though guest stars Lenny Kravitz, Adam Rodriguez, Alicia Keys and Chris Rock have already been confirmed for Empire Season 2, not that much is known about anyone's characters... until now. Empire co-creator Lee Daniels posted some juicy footage on his Instagram account featuring Rock decked out in an orange jumpsuit. Juicy! Considering Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) is currently imprisoned, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Rock's character will be encountering Lucious in jail. This, along with co-creator Danny Strong's The Hollywood Reporter interview last month revealing Rock's character "will be a person from the past" is proof: Empire is not dialing back the drama for Season 2.

Based on Daniels' new footage, it appears that Lucious and Rock's characters might be rivals. This doesn’t come as a surprise to me at all considering how vile and sadistic Lucious has been known to act — especially during his rise to the top of the entertainment industry.

Of course, Lucious is too well-connected to be in prison for long (especially since his eldest son Andre previously provided him with an alibi) — but, if he's set to encounter Rock playing a character from his past, the duo might have some unresolved history that could spill over into current times.

Until we can all figure out what the real deal is with Rock's character is, though, here are seven hints from Daniels' video that may give us some clue as to where he may fit in with Lucious' past, and the second season of Empire.

1. He And Lucious Have Some Beef

In the video from Daniels' Instagram, Rock says that Howard punched him in the stomach. Now, the circumstances remain unclear — however, in terms of the context of the show, Lucious would obviously have some deep animosity towards Rock's character to begin brawling in prison.

2. It Looks Like Lucious Is Going To Have Some Problems In Prison

Nothing good can come from violence in a prison yard. Since Lucious is known for his schemes and deceptions, I can only assume that he has a plan if he's going to publicly confront Rock's character.

3. Rock's Character May Have Been In Prison Awhile

Since Rock's character didn't appear during the first season of the show, can we assume that he's been in jail for awhile? Furthermore — could Lucious be the reason why he's incarcerated?

4. Rock's Character May Be Worse Than Lucious

Since Lucious was arrested for murder in the during the Season 1 finale, he's obviously in a maximum security prison — murder is not an offense taken lightly. Because Rock's character is also there, it's clear that he's definitely not a good guy.

5. Rock's Character May Have Ties To Cookie

During a flashback in the first season of the show, Cookie tells Lucious she has a bad feeling about the drug deal that eventually leads to her arrest and imprisonment — so it's clear that someone sold her out. Since it looks like Lucious got violent with Rock's character, maybe he had had something to do with Cookie's incarceration.

6. Chris Rock's Character Could Be An Asset to Lucious

Though Lucious handed his company over to Jamal, I'm not convinced that this is a permanent decision. Lucious now knows his was misdiagnosed with ALS and is not dying after all, so there is no reason why he should step down from Empire Entertainment. Since Rock's character and Lucious have a past, they could possibly form an alliance to get the company back from Jamal.

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