Jeffrey Dean Morgan discusses his upcoming role as the new big bad on The Walking Dead, comparing it to one of his famous roles.
NewsYears of wild speculation were recently put to bed when it was announced that The Walking Dead had finally found its Negan in Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Now, the surreal moment when the key villain, who made a “mind-blowing” debut in the original The Walking Dead comic book series in issue #100 is ever-imminent. Yet for Morgan, a self-confessed fan of the series, the role could very well keep things in familiar territory.
In an interview with EW, Morgan seems to reiterate his initial ecstatic reaction to nabbing the Negan role. Knowing full well that a nameless part that his agent had on the table was for Negan, Morgan’s response was, “we’re going to f**king do it!” He continued that line of commentary, expressing how The Walking Dead mythos has always been something on his radar; especially with his involvement in other fan-friendly genre projects like Zack Snyder’s ambitious 2009 film adaptation of the seminal graphic novel, Watchmen. As Morgan recounts in an almost Negan-esque way:
“I’m really f—ing excited. I was familiar. I watched the show, one. But two, I’ve always had a foot in the comic book world. I grew up with my uncle’s comic books at my grandma’s house, so I’ve always loved my comic book reading. And then that took on a whole new level when I did Watchmen. I go to Comic-Con every year, generally with some project of some sort.”
Certainly possessing the necessary swagger to pull off the intriguingly enigmatic antagonist in Negan, Morgan’s heavily-praised role as the brutal, flawed, fallen hero, Edward Blake, a.k.a. The Comedian in Watchmen seems to be an important evocation when it comes to his approach to the new Walking Dead baddie. A legendary soldier and hero, Blake's ostentatious weapon of choice yielded slow death to his enemies by flamethrower, as he also carried out some morally repugnant acts that would have permanently landed any civic-minded citizen in either a mental or penal institution. Yet the parallels to Negan were too strong to ignore for Morgan, who admits:
“There’s definitely some similarities. [To The Comedian.] Negan is special in a lot of ways and the more kind of digging I do into Negan, the more excited I get. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve been this giddy about doing a role. I think what’s there in the comic books and the graphic novels is this foundation of this man and the complexities of who he is.”
Indeed, Negan will smoothly stroll into The Walking Dead television mythos as the leader of a well-armed, well-organized group of thieving apocalypse survivors called The Saviors. Like The Comedian, his actions are typically brutal and unforgivable, despite them being arguably made in the name of some type of greater good. This aspect was the essence of the martyred Comedian, who died after discovering a secret that crossed even his own morally-loose boundaries. Likewise, we will likely see Morgan’s take on Negan delve into a similar pathological complexity of the character, minus his excessive use of obscene alliteration. Of course, Negan's also-ostentatious signature weapon, the barbed-wire-covered baseball bat he named "Lucille" will be present. In describing the sadistic object, Morgan says, "She is gorgeous. She is a beautiful girl."
The Walking Dead returns from its mid-season hiatus on February 14 on AMC for some drama that’s unlikely to be appropriately romantic. However, it is believed that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan won’t show his face until the end of the current season.
