The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan is down to make a Negan spinoff

AMC is making spinoff movies about Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead, so why not some about Negan? The source material is there…

Of all the characters on The Walking Dead, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan has one of the most complex story arcs, going from the despicable leader of the Saviors to a somewhat likable guy. His comic book counterpart has just as interesting a journey, with author Robert Kirkman writing two spinoff tales about the character: Here’s Negan and Negan Lives.

It turns out that Morgan is a fan of these two stories and has “always wanted” to adapt one of them for the big screen.

Kirkman published his first Negan spinoff comic back in 2017. Here’s Negan gave us the character’s origin story, revealing a more human side to him and digging into the hardships he had to endure that ultimately led to him becoming a brutal villain.

The second spinoff arrived in July of this year. Negan Lives picked up with the character after the end of the main comic. Negan is living in isolation when he meets Lucy and gets motivated to go on an adventure and give his dead wife Lucille a proper burial. One of the best things about Negan Lives was how writer Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard sent it to comic stores for free as a way to help boost business following the widespread coronavirus lockdowns.

During the recent The Walking Dead Universe Family Hangout, which was hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown and featured a few Walking Dead stars, Jeffrey Dean Morgan talked about Kirkman’s spinoff comics:

"I loved it. I loved the idea of it that Kirkman and Charlie got together and did this to save comic book stores, these little shops, and then I loved the story. I think Negan has become so well-rounded and this sort of redemption arc he’s been on has been very interesting to play. And I think the Negan Lives comic book kind of carries that on. It’s a great little story, it’s just a little slice of a day in the life of."

And what about the possibility of bringing that story to the screen? “It’s great, and I always wanted to film that and the prequel,” Morgan said. “There’s so much we don’t know about him. Keep writing him Kirkman, and maybe we’ll get to them eventually.”

Morgan also offered his support of Negan Lives by signing hundreds of copies in support of comic stores:

We’ll see if AMC is up for a Negan spinoff movie. Until then, we’ll have to make do with the many Walking Dead projects in the pipeline, including World Beyond, Fear the Walking Dead season 6, season 11 of the main show, and the elusive Rick Grimes movies.

The Walking Dead returns its season 10 finale October 4.

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