‘The Walking Dead’s’ Negan: Just How Much of The Comic Book Baddie Will AMC Retain?

The arrival of Negan in AMC’s The Walking Dead is, arguably, the most talked about character to date in the show’s history. Fans have been eagerly anticipating the ultra-baddie and his bat-o-death, Lucille, since the show started.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about upcoming episodes in The Walking Dead as well as definite spoilers from the comic book series the television show is based on. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

The recent announcement of Jeffrey Dean Morgan being cast in the role of Negan sent fans into a flurry of online activity. Morgan is probably best known to Supernatural fans for his role of John Winchester, father to Sam and Dean. However, Morgan, himself a fan of both the Walking Dead comics and the show, was described as being “giddy” to have picked up the coveted role.

Recently, Jeffrey Dean Morgan told Entertainment Weekly during a radio interview that at first he didn’t know which character he would be playing on The Walking Dead. However, it became apparent fairly quickly when his agent and manager mentioned he would be playing the “new big bad.” For Morgan, it then became a no-brainer in relation to whether he would take on the role or not — even though he will have to juggle this other role of the lawyer-turned-investigator Jason Crouse on The Good Wife.

While the casting news is only recent, Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been a favorite to play Negan for some time. It was fans suggesting he should play Negan in The Walking Dead that got Morgan interested in the comic book series the AMC series is based on, although Morgan has always been a fan of both comic books and the works of Robert Kirkman (who is the creator of The Walking Dead comic series).

Fans can now start to officially worry about the fate of Glenn (Steven Yeun) at the hands of Negan and Lucille after Morgan announced to EW that he has met all of the cast members during his recent trip to the set of The Walking Dead in Atlanta.

He has also met Lucille, the barbed wire baseball bat that Negan uses to kill Glenn in the comic book series.

“She is gorgeous. She is a beautiful girl.”

Morgan gushed about the bat during the interview but announced he didn’t need to practice his swing. “I grew up with a bat in my hands,” he stated. Fans of Glenn who have already read the comics can now officially start to worry about how close to the comic series AMC plans to tread.

Besides Negan’s iconic bat, Lucille, it is his colorful language that also identifies the villain. So how will AMC deal with how much swearing Negan does? How closely will they follow the comics in that regard? And will Negan become a watered-down character if they remove that aspect of his personality? According to Jeffrey Dean Morgan, AMC is planning to push the boundaries in relation to this subject. So far, Morgan says the language is not an issue, just something they have to work on, especially since it is so important to keep Negan as true to his comic book character as possible. Morgan himself also seems to be the character’s biggest advocate as well.

“We’re going to push AMC — the plan is to push them as far as they can because it’s who Negan is. He uses some colorful language. And I use some colorful language. And reading the comic, it’s important.”

While fans now know who will play Negan, the character is not expected to appear in season 6 of The Walking Dead until the very end — much like the appearance of Michonne in the season 2 finale. This leaves a long time for fans to debate just how long Glenn Rhee will survive once Negan arrives — especially now that we know his wife, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), is pregnant.

Do you think Negan will kill Glenn in the TV version of The Walking Dead? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!

The Walking Dead returns to AMC with the second half of season 6 on February 14, 2016.

[Image credit: Warner Bros./Image]