"The Walking Dead" might introduce Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan much sooner than anticipated.
According to earlier reports, the AMC zombie apocalypse drama was set to introduce Negan in the Season 6 finale. But showrunner Scott Gimple recently told TheWrap that the villain might be introduced much before the current season comes to an end.
"There have been articles pinpointing exactly when Negan shows up, and that's a bit disappointing, because they may not be entirely true," Gimple told TheWrap . "There's kind of a build up. But you might even see him next episode. Absolutely. Well, sort of. Well, definitely. Well, maybe. Maybe not. But possibly."
Sadly, Negan's introduction is going to spell trouble for a fan favourite character if the drama follows its source material – Robert Kirkman's comic book series of the same name. In the comics, Glenn is beaten to death with Negan's barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, which he affectionately calls Lucille. The way Glenn dies is considered one of the most barbaric and graphic deaths in the series.
In a December interview with Entertainment Weekly, Morgan opened up about playing Negan and said the television adaptation of the character is pretty close to the comic.
However, incorporating the foul language used by Negan is going to be a hurdle, admits Morgan.
"Look, it's a speed bump. I'm not going to say it's an issue because they're working on it. 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. So we'll see where that lands. It's our intention that this character is going to leap off the pages of the comic book. It's very important that that's who it is. Some of the characters there's much more leeway, but Negan is a guy that you want to keep as true as possible, and that would be how I want to play him as well."
