Jeffrey Dean Morgan wasn’t satisfied with Negan’s Walking Dead ending

Dead City actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan has portrayed Negan on The Walking Dead since season 6. He began his story as one of the most hated villains who, by the end, did his best to seek redemption for his past actions. While many forgave him, others will never forget the horrible acts he committed. In an interview with Kelly Ripa on her podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera, Morgan discusses Negan’s ending in the main series and why he wasn’t satisfied.

Morgan shared that the idea of Negan taking a wife in season 11 of The Walking Dead was something he didn’t feel Negan would do as he was so in love with his first wife, Lucille.

"You know, I don’t know that he would’ve gotten married again, and they had Negan get married at the end of The Walking Dead. We never saw the story of how he met this person and why he would’ve married her, which always kind of bummed me out because I think he was so in love with his wife, Lucille, and it had made such a production out of the whole Lucille of it all."

It was odd that the story of Negan and Annie (Medina Senghore) was never explained. He reappeared in the story as part of a new group called Riverside with a wife who was expecting their child. Even after the one-year time jump during the final episode of TWD, nothing was mentioned of Annie and the child she would have given birth to by that time.

Morgan believes his new spinoff series Dead City will give viewers some answers.

The Walking Dead – Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan

In season 10 of The Walking Dead, fans would be treated to a backstory on Negan in the episode “Here’s Negan.” It was an amazing look back at what made Negan into the villain who welded a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat named after the love of his life Lucille.

In “Here’s Negan,” viewers are introduced to his wife Lucille, played by Morgan’s real wife, Hilaire Burton Morgan. The history of Negan’s marriage would reveal that he wasn’t the best husband, as he was unemployed, wasn’t very interested in founding a new job, and was having an affair with his wife’s best friend. He would be with this woman when Lucille discovers she has cancer.

The story was heartbreaking as once Lucille was diagnosed, Negan realized the error of his ways and became a truly devoted husband, but in the end, she would take her own life rather than suffer. By the time she was diagnosed, the outbreak had begun, and finding medication was becoming more and more difficult. She knew it was only a matter of time before she died and wanted to end things are her terms. Negan was crushed. He took his anger out on the men who prevented him from arriving home with her medicine before she killed herself and thus began the terror of Negan, the leader of the Saviors.

You can listen to Ripa’s entire interview with Morgan below.

The Walking Dead: Dead City will air new episodes weekly on AMC on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. AMC+ subscribers can watch new episodes three days early on Thursdays.

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