NOTE: Comic book spoilers will be discussed, which may later transpire in The Walking Dead television series
When The Walking Dead returns a little later this month for the second half of its sixth season, viewers will be introduced to a variety of new characters, but the ones lifelong Walking Dead fans are arguably most excited to see is Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
In the comics...
As the leader of a group of around 50 survivors in Washington, Negan is charismatic but extremely dangerous. Though little has been given away about the role Negan will be playing in the television series, it's been said that the portrayal will be kept very close to the man many have been introduced to in the comic books. Not good news if you're a Glenn fan, but more on that later...
The group Negan leads is called The Saviors. They find other communities in the area and take their resources in return for their protection against the zombie hordes. The first time Rick Grimes and his group of fellow survivors come across The Saviors is when they're ambushed by them following their agreement to start a trading network with the Hilltop Colony. Forced to abide by Negan's rules and to give half of their supplies away, they have no choice but to give in and do exactly what Negan says. He's a powerful man with an immense amount of charm, even persuading those with him to give up their wives and girlfriends, taking them as his own in a strange hareem.
Along with 50 of his men, Negan snuck up on Rick's group, subduing their leader and making a deal with everybody else that everything belonging to the Alexandria Safe-Zone would now belong to the Saviors. He told the group that whilst the deal had been made he did have to take revenge for the deaths of some of his group's members, before introducing his weapon - a baseball bat covered in barbed wire that he'd named Lucille. Chatting about his new world order, he then chose a victim at random - Glenn. Ignoring his pleas for him to change his mind, Lucille came smashing down hard on Glenn's skull, with Negan remarking "he's taking it like a champ" before dislocating Glenn's jaw and beating him to death.
A little later on in the comics, Carl decides to take a stand against The Saviors, killing six of their men before losing control of his gun. When captured, instead of allowing his group to kill the boy, Negan becomes extremely interested in him and rather than punishing him with violence, uses him to get at his father, Rick.
In the show...
Though we know very little, showrunner Scott Gimple has given some insight.
He explains: "Negan is terrifying in that he isn't a psychopath. He's charismatic and funny. And even sort of friendly. But he just kills, and it doesn't bother him. He's the star of his own movie and we're all Red Shirts. He's not nuts. But you can't reason with him because he's got it all worked out. He knows exactly the way the world works. And he's the one in control.
"Negan also has a bizarre sense of empathy. He actually recognises your bad luck in you running into him, yet it doesn't change a damn thing."
A preview clip for an upcoming episode called 'No Way Out' sees Daryl, Sasha and Abraham on their way back to Alexandria before they're stopped by a group of heavily armed men. They're The Saviors, and the leader of the pack orders them to turn over their possessions, telling them: "Your property now belongs to Negan."
Whether what goes on in the comic books follows through into the television world remains to be seen, but it is going to be one hell of a bumpy road with Negan brought to life.
The Walking Dead returns in the US on February 14 on AMC, following the day after in the UK on February 15 on FOX at 9pm.
Tagged in Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Walking Dead