‘The Walking Dead’ Creator Robert Kirkman Claims The Show ‘Will Never Be The Same’ After ‘Atomic Bomb’ Negan

One of the strong points of The Walking Dead is the show’s iconic villains. Whether its The Governor (David Morrissey) or Gareth (Andrew J. West), the show’s villains have always given the series an added bump that keeps fans on edge. That being said, Robert Kirkman recently revealed that the show’s newest big bad, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), is going to be game changer.

In speaking with Entertainment Weekly, The Walking Dead creator spoke how Negan is an “atomic bomb,” and that fans should expect some major changes ahead for the characters on the show. Given the past villains on the show and their level of depravity, Kirkman’s comments are truly revealing.

In case fans are wondering who Negan is, Movie News Guide is reporting that the comic book version of Negan might provide some clues at what fans can expect on the show. In the comics, Negan has a number of different followers who refer to themselves as “Saviors.” The group is very violent in nature and use violence as a means to rule people and small communities.

Although it isn’t known how close the series will stick to the comics, Kirkman went on to reveal that Negan shares some similarities with Rick (Andrew Lincoln). Not only is Negan an “intellectual,” but he’s also a “capable leader.” The only difference between the two, according to Kirkman, is that Negan’s “morality dial [is] a few clicks away from Rick toward the darker aspects of his personality.”

Luckily, fans won’t have to wait much longer before Negan makes his way to the series. In fact, Negan will featured in the first two installments when The Walking Dead returns from its winter break. With that in mind, Kirkman also spoke about the initial confrontation between Rick and Negan, revealing that the community in Alexandria is not prepared for the new group.

“This is a much different group than they’ve ever encountered. The Saviors are a group they’re not really prepared for,” he shared.

Speaking of where the show will be picking up when it returns, Undead Walking is reporting that fans will have little time to catch their breath as the show will launch right back where it left off after its shocking winter finale. This is good news for fans, but bad news for the characters, who didn’t exactly leave in the best of circumstances.

As fans will recall, the finale featured the walls of Alexandria finally coming down as hordes of zombies made their way through the town. With the fate of so many characters in the balance, it will definitely be interesting to see which characters manage to make it safely out of the compromised town.

“We pick up right in that moment. Alexandria is overrun. Rick and the kids are all covered in guts trying to get through the crowd,” Kirkman revealed in the interview. “Everyone is where we last saw them, and things get worse from there.”

While it’s certainly good to know that the series will dive right back into things, the situation that currently faces Rick and his group is not good. Now, along with a zombie horde to take down, Rick and company will have to deal with the arrival of Negan, making the situation far worse than it could have been.

Exactly how this shakes out is yet to be seen, but given the nature of the show there is little chance that all of the characters will be able to make it out of Alexandria alive.

The second half of season 6 of The Walking Dead is set to premiere on February 14 on AMC.

Tell us! What kind of havoc do you expect from Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan when The Walking Dead returns? Let us know in the comments and check out the prologue for the second half of season 6 below.

[Image via The CW]