Tom Payne Has Trained For A Jesus Vs. Negan Fight On The Walking Dead

Season 7 of The Walking Dead has been loaded with iconic moments from Robert Kirkman’s comics. We started with the death of Glenn, we’ve had Negan’s dialogue sprinkled throughout, and the stage has been set for several others to occur — starting with Sunday’s midseason finale.

One great moment we should be expecting (eventually) is an epic duel between resident ninja Jesus and town menace Negan.

Jesus actor Tom Payne is very much aware of the scene and looking forward to it, though he won’t admit whether or not the fight has been filmed for Season 7. Speaking to ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview, Payne dished on his preparation for the fight scene with the 6-foot-two Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

“I think that would be really interesting,” Payne said. “In my training, I worked a lot because I read that in the comic books as well and I was like, ‘Wow, that would be really cool.’ Obviously there’s a height difference between me and Jeffrey. We worked a lot on [Jesus] being very quick and efficient, in much the same way that that scenes plays out in the comic books.”

The fight takes place in the March to War arc of the comics, which many fans expect to see realized before Season 7 comes to a close — saving All Out War for Season 8.

“I definitely made sure that I prepared for that,” Payne said. “I think it would be really interesting to see Jesus against humans, because that’s a very different things. Because actually the walkers are pretty simple to deal with. Everyone can deal with the walkers at this point, Jesus especially. It would be interesting to see him in a fight against humans, where there’s actual brain power involved and he has to really think about what he’s doing.”

For those wondering how the fight ended, Jesus won. He didn’t kill Negan but that wasn’t his goal. Disarming him and stalling him until Ezekiel and other soldiers arrived was the objective and exactly what ended up being accomplished.

More Walking Dead:

Sing Me a Song Recap / Where Did Jesus Go? / Will Spencer Die? / What Did Daryl’s Note Say? / Finale Preview Released / Is Michonne Going To Kill Negan? / Where Is Rick? / Carl’s Big Reveal / Where Are Carol And Morgan? / What Did The Sign Say? / Steven Yeun Got Married / Where Jesus Went According To Tom Payne

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

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