Season-ending cliffhangers are nothing new in the small-screen world of television, but few have garnered as much attention as that of The Walking Dead season 6, which left our heroes at the mercy of Negan.
Allowing Jeffrey Dean Morgan to descend into “full-on villain mode,” the character of Negan is right up there with the very best The Walking Dead has to offer, and considering that the baseball-touting maniac is still alive in Robert Kirkman’s comic, Morgan’s big bad could be around for some time yet – presuming AMC doesn’t diverge from the source material and bump Negan off entirely.
He’s the centerpiece of that season-ending cliffhanger, though, after brandishing Lucille in front of those survivors and beating a certain someone to a pulp just as the screen faded to black. It’s a finale that sparked heated debate online, though Jeffrey Dean Morgan firmly believes that, by the time The Walking Dead season 7 presents the long-anticipated resolution, there are those who will wish “the cliffhanger had never ended.”
“I can’t stress enough that if you were one of those people who were like, ‘Oh, f***ing cliffhanger,’ you’re going to be really wishing that the cliffhanger had never ended after the first episode back. So, be careful what you wish for.”
Bold words, of course, but however things shake out, the actor is having a blast indulging in his evil alter-ego:
“This has been an extraordinary experience being on The Walking Dead this year. This role in particular is probably the hardest, most fun time, all-in-one, can’t sleep craziness.”
Joining Morgan for season 7 are Andrew Lincoln, reprising his defining role as Rick Grimes, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Steven Yeun, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Sonequa Martin-Green, Michael Cudlitz, Josh McDermitt, Ross Marquand, Christian Serratos and Khary Payton as Ezekiel.
The Walking Dead returns for a seventh season on October 23 at 9 pm ET.