Jeffrey Dean Morgan Reveals Details About Negan In The Walking Dead Season 7

Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan has become the centerpiece of The Walking Dead universe. The character, however, has only appeared on screen for about 12-minutes plus a Season 7 trailer. Needless to say, fans are clamoring for more.

Morgan is fully aware of the hype surrouding his character heading into the momentus seventh season of the AMC series.

“The show hasn’t even aired yet,” Morgan says of the fan reactions. “They had a little bit, 13 minutes in [episode] 16 last year.”

Quickly, the Chris Hardwick-lead conversation turned to some insight about Negan. Given how little we’ve seen of the character on television, fans unfamiliar with The Walking Dead comics are likely unprepared for what’s ahead.

“To have somewhere to go, you have to believe in what you’re doing,” Morgan says of his portrayal of Negan. “What he is doing is essentially the same thing these people are doing. He just happens to carry a baseball bat who he loves dearly.”

“He’s a bit of a showman,” Morgan goes on about his villain. “This world is his stage. You can call it cocky but we all watched Rick get cocky.”

The crowd cheered in response to Morgan, prompting him to quip, “Kill ’em all!” to an even bigger applause at New York Comic Con’s The Walking Dead panel in Madison Square Garden.

“As much charisma as Negan has, there is also a big element of fear,” the actor goes on. “I think a lot of his followers follow him for fear of getting an iron to their face or worse.”

“I’ve played some dastardly motherf—ers but none of them hold a candle to Negan,” Morgan says, before adding that Negan’s followers are “scared s—less” of the man but also have a layer of respect for him.

For fans who are familiar with the comics, they know that Negan is largely defined by his colorful language and use of the F-word. “We surgically capture the F-bombs that matter,” Gimple says of the language Negan will use the upcoming season. Alternate versions of several scenes will be available for the public when the show releases on blu-ray.

The Walking Dead returns for its seventh season on October 23 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.