Creator of The Walking Dead comic book series, executive producer on the television show and occasional writer for some of the episodes Robert Kirkman has now commented on the controversy surrounding the cliffhanger ending granted to the season 6 finale, which aired over a month ago.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan / Credit: AMC
He writes: "Okay, the season 6 finale has certainly caused a fervor online. EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT. Some people love it. Some people are indifferent. Some people HATE it. We weren't trying to game the audience, we weren't trying to drive you crazy, and we certianly weren't trying to FORCE you to come back for season 7... We hope you were always planning on doing that and still plan on doing that. We did want you to talk. And talk you are.
"The speculation, the frustration, the possibilities, the theories... Honestly, in my mind... That stuff is FUN. I honestly feel like that's something fun for the fans to do during the break. Was it Spencer? Could it have been Morgan? What about Carol? Did Negan kill Jesus?! (Note, none of them were there... I'm not giving ANYTHING away.) I know people are angry over this, but that wasn't our intent. The idea was that after 6 seasons of a show, we wanted to stay on your mind and give you something to talk about.
"And think of it this way... A character you love and are going to miss is DEAD, and we gave you a few extra months to hope, to not grieve. Is there uncertainty? Yes. But that was kind of the idea.
"But seriously. Everyone on the TWD team wanted to do something cool. We wanted to do something different and we did it to change things up, get people excited and keep this show on your mind.
"For some of you, that effort backfired and you're angry. And for that I'm sorry. The only thing I can PROMISE you is that the season 7 premiere is going to be awesome. And when viewed as a two-part episode (the same way EVERY SEASON of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended with the first half of a two-part episode that was a cliffhanger...), it's going to be a pretty awesome ride. And every minute of the season 6 finale was important and was setting something up that you probably won't see coming.
"It's a cool episode... And remember... There's a LOT more for Negan to do. Be afraid... Be very afraid. And excited!"
The 'letter hack' was published alongside Issue #154 of the Walking Dead comic book series this week before being posted to Reddit, and came following a petition launched at the writers of the show demanding they tell fans whose life was brought to an end in the season 6 finale.
New-to-TV villain Negan was the one who ended somebody's life, swinging his barbed wire baseball bat Lucille down on somebody's head, but the end of the scene was shot from the victim's point of view, meaning that the reveal won't be made until the season 7 premiere.
The Walking Dead is expected to return for season 7 on AMC in the US and FOX in the UK in October.
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