There’ve been so many emotionally crushing deaths on The Walking Dead, but arguably the one that had the most impact was Glenn Rhee’s brutal murder at the hands of Negan in the season 7 premiere.
Many fans thought that, though his death made for a big, shocking start to the season, the loss of Steven Yeun’s character hit the show hard. Apparently, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman disagrees with this, as he doesn’t regret killing Glenn whatsoever. Well, sort of.
While heading a panel at SDCC, the Image Comics creator was asked by a fan whether he ever regretted writing out the beloved character. At first, he seemed sure that it was the right thing to do, saying:
“In the event that Steven Yeun eventually sees this, I just want to say for the record, ‘Not even a little bit!’ So, no.”
Kirkman then adjusted his answer, admitting that he felt they might have pushed the brutality of the scene too far.
“Maybe a little. A little bit at the premiere. I got to watch that with an audience and when it was happening I was like, It’s a bit much. It’s a bit much.’”
Finally, he decided that it was the correct move to have Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s villain wipe out both Glenn and Abraham in the premiere, saying:
“It was good for the show. I think it was good to have the event for the seventh season.” It injected a lot of new blood to the show, including Negan, who fans really seem to like. “When you guys see Season 8 an what we’ve got planned for this year, it all comes together in a really cool way.”
The writer isn’t the only one who has mixed opinions on Glenn’s exit. Steven Yeun himself has previously revealed that he felt that Glenn didn’t get “his fair due” on the show, though he’s happy that his character will now be remembered thanks to his shocking, gory death.
The Walking Dead returns on October 22nd for its eighth season.
