When Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was introduced to The Walking Dead back in season 6 by brutally killing Glenn and Abraham, no one could’ve imagined that he’d still be a key character, much less one fans are rooting for. His journey from despicable villain to a rehabilitated, somewhat likable survivor is some crazy good character development. Turns out these changes would never have occurred if the writers went with their original plans.
According to Morgan, when he signed onto The Walking Dead, he was only supposed to be involved in seasons 7, 8 and 9, which involved the all-out-war storyline. From around season 10 onwards is when we star to see Negan’s rehabilitation.
“I think, originally, it was gonna be three years,” Morgan said during The Walking Dead’s panel at NYCC, per ComicBook.com. “I think that was [the plan]. I had a conversation with Scott [Gimple, executive producer and then-showrunner], and it was like, ‘You gotta be on it for at least three years if you want to be a part of this show.’ I was like, ‘That seems like a long time.'”
Funnily enough, had Negan died in season 9, it would’ve gone against his comic book ending. On the page, he’s still very much alive. In 2020, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman wrote a new one-shot story about the character, titled “Negan Lives.”
Morgan has made more appearances as Negan than as any other character in his career. “Little did I know that eight years later or whatever, we’d still be here. That eight years has gone by like that. Like that,” he said. “I can’t believe that we’re here and celebrating the end of this show as we know it. It’s unbelievable to me. There’s been so many kind of iterations of this show through the years, losing people, having people come back.”
"It’s been one hell of a f—ing ride, I’ll say that. Thank you, all of you, for coming along all these years, as well. Longer than I’ve been here, for sure."
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is “proud” of Negan’s Walking Dead spinoff
And Jeffrey Dean Morgan isn’t ready to wave goodbye to Negan just yet. His story will continue in a spinoff, Dead City, which will air in April 2023. Set in a post-apocalyptic New York City, the spinoff follows the unlikely duo of Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan. Check out one of the first stills from the show below:
How do Negan and Maggie come to not only work together, but to leave for New York together? That remains a mystery. All will hopefully make sense when it airs. “We’re proud of it, and we think you guys are going to love it,” Morgan teased.
The Walking Dead season 11 continues Sundays on AMC, with the series finale premiering on November 20.
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