‘The Walking Dead’ Fan Edit Pits Shane And The Governor Vs Negan

A fan edit is showing fans what may have went down in The Walking Dead if Shane (Jon Bernthal) and the Governor (David Morrissey) were still among the living.

Nicholas Ghenov posted the edit to YouTube, reimagining the climactic battle of season 7 closer “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life,” which saw Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the people of Alexandria plotting to make their first retaliatory strike against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his army of extortionists known as the Saviors.

With their surprise attack sabotaged by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and her band of outcast Scavengers, Alexandria found themselves overwhelmed, with Rick and Carl (Chandler Riggs) narrowly avoiding death-by-Louisville-slugger. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) of the Hilltop community and King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) of the Kingdom lead a cavalry charge, helping Alexandria ward off the Saviors and the Scavengers in the first victory of all out war between the factions of survivors.

The video inserts anti-hero Shane, original Atlanta survivor Andrea (Laurie Holden) and the villainous Governor into the action, inventing a scenario where the trio lived past seasons 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Splicing footage from seasons 2 and 3 into the season 7 finale, Ghenov’s take on the strife means things would have gone very differently — and it’s interesting to ponder what The Walking Dead would be like if certain characters were still around.

Fans have long speculated alternate scenarios when it comes to the series’ baseball bat wielding big bad: would Shane submit to Negan and his wanton demands? Who would win in a fight, Negan or the Governor? Would Andrea have gone on to become the leader and badass she was in Robert Kirkman’s comic books, and how would she have reacted to his imposed status quo? All that’s missing is an alternate take where redhead soldier Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) lived past the season 7 premiere, bringing hell to Negan and his not-so-merry band of dingleberries.

The Walking Dead is gearing up for a faster-paced, action-heavy run that will adapt the popular All Out War storyline. The Walking Dead returns to AMC with its season 8 premiere Sunday, October 22.