‘Walking Dead’: Producer Talks The Nature Of Negan, ‘Bring On The Hate Mail’


Walking Dead‘s Negan character is quite iconic in the Skybound publication and now that he’s been introduced onto the small screen and ended Season 6 with a cliffhanger. Fans got an idea of how comic book-accurate the villain really is. Executive producer Gale Anne Hurd gave her take on how much of a baddie he is and how well actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan brought Negan to life, according to E! News.

Apparently the character is free of a guilty conscious and loves what he does during the zombie apocalypse.

“I think Negan is the ultimate villain. He’s been the ultimate villain in the comic book, and I think Jeffrey Dean Morgan is bringing him to life the way that I imagined because he is larger than life, he is charismatic, and he really enjoys what he does. He doesn’t seem to have much of a conscience about it, and that’s the kind of person we haven’t seen before. Everyone else had a justification that they were reasoning as to why they did what they did, some of the evil things. They always had an excuse. Well, Negan rules.”

That said, Negan doesn’t rationalize like the others, he just does his thing.

Walking Dead‘s Negan character brought the authenticity to life in the final season as Dean Morgan recited a seamless, Shakespearean-like presentation of how he now “rules the roost.” You could cut the tension with a knife as it all came to a head at the hands of Lucille.

On the set of The Good Wife, Morgan had a message for his fans, according to E! News.

“Bring on the hate mail. I’m ready.”

So it looks like Morgan is taking it all in and eating it up. This shows the true nature of how passionate he is for his craft and also how diverse he likes to be when taking on characters. In April, he explained to ET Online two days prior to the Season 6 finale about how he’s done a complete 180 relative to The Good Wife.

“The first episode you see me in airs Sunday night and we will see what happens, man. It is going to a whole new deal.”

The Walking Dead Negan actor said even back then that he’s all “prepped” for the hate mail.

“I am fully prepped for hate mail and everything else. So bring it.”

Morgan even reinforces the villainous nature of Negan by comparing him to David Morrisey’s Governor in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“It’s not even close.”

So it would seem the actor is just as confident as Negan himself about the character’s abilities. The Governor showed himself to be an unstable loon while the Lucille-wielding villain is calm, cool, and collected. He is so matter of fact.

“I’d put Negan up against anybody. He’s super smart and there’s no filter, no fear. The Governor was a little bit wack. Negan’s got it together. It wouldn’t even be close.”

Speaking of no filter, Morgan mentioned how much swearing his character does in Season 7 of The Walking Dead. At the time of the Entertainment Weekly interview, he mentioned they were on Episode 7 and he talked about how “limitless” the amount of swear words he says on the show. This is not unlike the Walking Dead version of the comics.

“I will let words fly. And some are scripted and some are just in character.”

The Walking Dead actor continued as he claimed that it’s basically hitting the reset button in that world and now Negan has claimed it as his own. One can only imagine that perhaps Season 7 is now being seen through his eyes. Does this make him ahead of the pecking order now and Rick Grimes more as a follower? An underling?

It would make sense since the fans have grown to endear the characters of the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, Morgan said some will no longer be returning.

But you will see Negan return to The Walking Dead on Oct. 23 where Season 7 awaits.

[Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images]

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