Jeffrey Dean Morgan Cast as Negan in THE WALKING DEAD
Fans of The Walking Dead comic book have known from the beginning of the AMC series that somewhere down to the road the iconic and violent character Negan would have to eventually show up. Well, Negan is finally coming and they've cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the role, which is a perfect choice for the character! Other actors in the running for the part included Timothy Olyphant, Matt Dillon, and Garret Dillahunt.
According to THR, Negan will be introduced in the show in the Season 6 finale, which is being directed by Greg Nicotero. The character wasn't introduced in the comic series until the 100th issue.
Possible SPOILERS ahead if you haven't read the comics:
Negan is an insanely violent leader of a group known as The Saviors. They basically use force and intimidation to subjugate other communities, like Alexandria. There's no word on how he or his storyline will exactly be presented in the series, but I imagine there will be some differences from the comics.
In the comic series, Negan protects certain communities from Walkers in exchange for half of that community's supplies. Rick Grimes isn't OK with what Negan is doing, so he wants to bring him down. This isn't an easy task, as Negan makes David Morrissey's villainous Governor character look like a little puppy dog.
Last season, series star Andrew Lincoln told the outlet that he "would be very surprised if we don't see Negan on the horizon in the not-too-distant future." He went on to say:
"What struck me, that I've always been excited about, is we're coming into the sixth season of this show ... and it's the medieval part of The Walking Dead comic, where you realize that there are these isolated communities but don't really know other ones exist. But they're all building and forming themselves with their own image. And then there's a clash of those communities. That, to me, is really interesting and when it gets really exciting with all the action. It turns into this insane, near-apocalyptic landscape that we've never seen before. That is almost a reimagining and a restart for society and humanity. And that is such a rich thing to tell."
Showrunner Scott M. Gimple went on to say that it would be challenging to bring Negan to the series because of his foul mouth, but he did say:
"There's a particular story in that arc that I'm very excited for. But because we know where we're going, we have some opportunities to play around with it and put some things in that will lead up to [Negan and Alexandria] in different ways yet fulfill the story Robert told to the Nth degree by utilizing some slightly different approaches. Lineups and timelines and the whole nine yards."
I'm looking forward to seeing how Negan will be portrayed in the series, and it's good to know they got a great actor to bring this insane character to life for the fans. What do you all think about Jeffrey Dean Morgan taking on this iconic role?