Ladies and gentlemen, here's your new Negan.
After seasons of rumors and speculation, "The Walking Dead" has reportedly finally found its baddest villain ever, according the The Hollywood Reporter. THR reports actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan ("Watchmen," "The Good Wife") has been cast in the highly anticipated role of Negan, the leader of the Saviors. Negan will apparently show up in the Season 6 finale before becoming a regular in Season 7.
(Warning: Spoilers!)
Negan is one of the most anticipated comic characters yet to appear in the AMC show. Partly that's because everyone's curious how AMC will handle his penchant for dropping F-bombs, but he also has perhaps the most iconic introduction ever. One of Negan's first orders of business is beating Glenn's head in with his baseball bat, Lucille.
"The Walking Dead" seemed to hint the moment was on the way with Maggie's recent pregnancy reveal. In the comics, the pregnancy happens right before Glenn's death. However, Glenn's current situation (where he apparently had his guts ripped out by zombies) put that in doubt. Could this casting be evidence Glenn survives the dumpster scene?
"Walking Dead" showrunner Scott Gimple told THR that they're going to "play around" with Negan a bit, but will "fulfill" series creator Robert Kirkman's story "to the Nth degree." So it appears the baseball bat moment is coming. Whether Glenn or someone else is on the receiving end remains to be seen.
Rick Grimes himself, Andrew Lincoln, already told The Huffington Post he dropped his script while reading what "Walking Dead" has coming up in the rest of the season, and that wasn't even about the finale. It's time to get excited, people.
"The Walking Dead" airs weeknights at 9:00 p.m. ET on AMC.
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