‘The Walking Dead’ Star Jeffrey Dean Morgan Wants to Play “Badass” Lobo

The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan only has one superhero role in mind: DC Comics’ Lobo.

“Who’s left? Who hasn’t been played by one of the Chrises?” the Negan actor asked during Walker Stalker Con’s ‘An Evening with Norman & Jeffrey,’ where he appeared alongside Walking Dead co-star Norman Reedus.

Asked about ideal Marvel roles, Reedus swiftly picked Ghost Rider or Silver Surfer, while Morgan mulled over Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. “Fantastic Four’s been done, though. I mean, I like the stretchy dude,” Morgan said.

“The only one I want to play is DC and Lobo. He’s badass,” he added. “Marvel, I don’t know, everyone that’s in it is pretty good. I feel like all the greatest characters, they’re working.”

Morgan’s interest in the cigar-chomping alien bounty hunter-slash-mercenary is nearing the ten-year point: in 2009, fresh off the Zack Snyder-directed DC Comics adaptation Watchmen, Morgan told MovieWeb Lobo “would be cool.”

“Lobo would be very cool. I don’t think that I’m as big as Lobo is, but if you could transplant Mickey Rourke’s body on my head, that would be just great,” Morgan said.

Morgan, who would go on to star alongside future Marvel Cinematic Universe headliners Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana, and Idris Elba in 2010 Vertigo comics adaptation The Losers, accurately anticipated the longevity of the booming comic book genre, which he said was “an untapped world for me as well.”

“Every time I kind of hear about something I go out and get the book or I look it up. We’ll see,” Morgan said. “You’re always looking for material that’s kind of smart and fun and this seems to be where it is right now. The studios are really gravitating towards it. More than I’ve ever seen them gravitate towards anything in a long time. Comic books are really the thing right now and I don’t see that going away for at least the next couple of years.”

He would later reteam with Snyder in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where he played Thomas Wayne, doomed father of a young Bruce Wayne.

In March, Morgan noted he and Snyder “talked about doing Batman together” when making Watchmen, adding it would be “the thrill of a lifetime” to reprise the role in a Flashpoint adaptation. That alternate reality storyline saw Thomas Wayne, spurred by the murder of his young son at a mugger’s hands, to become a Batman that was darker and more brutal than his mainstream counterpart.

Because Snyder mostly stepped away from Warner Bros.’ DCEU — and because the in-the-works Flash solo moved away from Flashpoint in favor of a lighter Back to the Future-inspired tone under Game Night directors John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein — a future as the Thomas Wayne Batman is doubtful.

“I’ll keep talking about it just because it’s really fun to talk about, and I really would like Warner Bros. to open their ears a little bit,” Morgan told MTV at San Diego Comic-Con.

“When Zack Snyder was involved in the DC world more, I think there was a real possibility, but now that he’s kinda stepped away a little bit — I’ve heard different things, that Flashpoint might not be going in that direction, it’ll be more of an origin story for Flash,” Morgan said. “But look, I’m always here, and would love to do it.”

Earlier this year, it was reported Transformers director Michael Bay was eyeing a pricey Lobo movie that would have cost upwards of $200 million if it moved forward with its script as is. More recently, it was learned Lobo is headed to the sophomore season of TV’s Superman prequel Krypton.

Morgan returns as Negan in The Walking Dead Season Nine, debuting Sunday, October 7 on AMC.