With how often we see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in the world of The Walking Dead, it’s hard to imagine it without him. But there was a chance that, at the end of season 2 of Dead City, Morgan was going to walk away from the role.
The actor, who recently went on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on YouTube with host Josh Horowitz, admitted that he was really starting to get tired of the same Negan schtick they had been doing for a decade at the end of season 2 and was ready to walk away:
“It was great to shoot. We’ve been kind of doing variations of the same theme for 10 years, the two of us. And so that's where kind of Negan was stuck with this Maggie character. So then, to do this spin-off, you know, it started off the spin-off for the first part of the first year: 'There's going to be some movement here.' And then I felt like last year we really got bogged down in season 2. Negan, especially, from my point of view, all I did was cry, and he'd lost his charisma and, you know, everything that made him Negan. I called Dan McDermott, who runs AMC, and I was like, from my trailer after the last day of filming of season 2, and I said, ‘I can't do it like this anymore.'"
Morgan continued, saying that both he and Cohan wanted to explore a different dynamic and get Negan’s spark back.
He revealed it took a conversation with McDermott about where the character was headed to convince him to stick around, mainly by bringing in Seth Hoffman (a writer from The Walking Dead main series) as a writer and showrunner and figuring out a new direction for both Negan and Maggie:
“I think Lauren was there also. I was just the first one to call, and I'm really quiet about it. I don't often call anybody. If I'm calling, there's something going on. Luckily, we brought in Seth Hoffman, who I think injected so much, and I remember having my first phone conversation with him, kind of one-on-one: ‘What are you looking for? What do you want to do?’ And I was like, well, 'the dynamic has to change. There has to be more to it than she wants to kill me, and I'm trying to make her not kill me and talk her out of it and save her son.’ I just wanted Negan back. I wanted his humor and charisma and his smartness back in the show because I felt like it, you know, vanished, and we were able to do that.”
Why Negan’s story did need to be changed
Negan really is one of those characters whose charisma drives his plot. Yes, he did have some interesting character development in the original series. He gave us some pretty iconic and satisfying deaths, but Dead City really went in on this partnership of Maggie hating Negan, forcing them to work together, and then they did the whole song and dance again in season 2. And yeah, it does get kind of draining, even as a fan.
I don’t necessarily blame Morgan for wanting to switch things up, and it seems that it’s really worked out for the better. The Walking Dead: Dead City’s third season is the best yet, as it really does take the story in a different direction than what they were trying to do before.
Honestly, the fact that Morgan was willing to walk away from the character itself already is a huge red flag for how the series was going. This man embodies Negan as a whole, so when you know that even he was getting tired, there were major issues with that story.
Even so, there has been some backlash to this new direction. When the trailer for Dead City season 3 dropped, many fans were bitter and upset about the relationship between Negan and Maggie, which seemed to be evolving into them bantering like friends now. Many couldn’t believe that Maggie would ever willingly ally with Negan if she weren't desperate.
But each episode of the new series has shown that this dynamic works. And Morgan is right — it does feel like a breath of fresh air for the characters, especially Negan. And seeing him, with his charisma and jokes, makes me, a longtime walker lover, very happy.
With this in mind, there is one thing I will not accept if it happens.
Maggie and Negan cannot become an item
Under NO circumstances do I ever want to see these two come together. Ever. With a cherry on top. And extra sprinkles. A whole serving of “nope.”
You might think I’m crazy for suggesting this, but there are Maggie/Negan shippers out there. While Lauren Cohan has made her views on that clear (disgusting), Morgan has jokingly said he’d be all for it (because, of course, he did).
And look, I love a good enemies-to-lovers, but let’s not push the envelope too far. I’m okay with these two becoming begrudging allies, maybe even friends. It’s been more than a decade since Glenn’s death, and things have changed a whole lot. But God, do not become a couple. That’s too much of a change to this story.
You can watch Dead City season 3 on AMC+ right now.
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