Michonne (Danai Gurira) visits the cell of a jailed and deflated Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in a new The Walking Dead Season Nine clip first aired on Conan.
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Michonne delivers a tray of food. Slim pickings for a former king.
Michonne: Eat, Negan. It’s a nice day.
He chuckles.
Michonne: I’ll be back in an hour. I want that gone.
She goes to leave.
Negan: Is that all you got?
Michonne: I got better things to do.
Negan: You want me to eat. Well, I want you to stay and talk to me. I mean, I’m proof that you’re making civilization, right? I mean, that’s what your boyfriend said, so… hard to be that if I’m dead from starvation.
Michonne: Thought you said you weren’t on strike.
Negan: I’m not if you stay and talk to me.
Season Nine will find a “vulnerable” Negan after an 18-month incarceration who “lives for” his infrequent sit-downs with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Morgan told ComicBook.com.
“I think that’s all he thinks about, ‘Please Rick, come down here,’” Morgan said.
“And, so, I think that is when he gets a little bit of bravado. I think as we go here the inner battle, Negan trying to figure out… I think he’s going insane. I think the four walls have closed in on him, so he’s battling trying to keep some sense of sanity. And it’s not going well. He’s used to performing in front of a lot of people and putting on a show. Unable to do that, kill the party, is very important to his psyche. He’s going through a lot of shit right now.”
A cramped cell has made the past year-and-a-half hell for the ousted Savior leader, who has been relegated to the Monster in the Basement of Alexandria.
“I don’t think he’s eating well. I don’t think that he’s getting to talk to people,” Morgan said. “These are things that are important to Negan, he’s having a tough time.”
Morgan said during San Diego Comic-Con Negan will share more screentime this season with characters he’s had little face time with, and those interactions with characters beyond Rick — who will soon be exiting the show — will play a part in bringing out different shades of Negan.
“Of course Negan is still Negan — he can’t help but say things that are snarky or kind of rough, but we’re gonna see some really different emotional shades to him. He’s essentially been in solitary confinement for a year and a half since the end of last season, and one of the stories that we’re exploring is what that’s done to him,” showrunner Angela Kang told IGN.
“So that really shifts the nature of the interactions he has. The other thing we’ll be doing this season that I’m excited about is, there was so much during the war that was mano a mano with Rick and Negan, and this year we’re gonna see some other people have some really significant interactions with him that I hope are a little different and surprising.”
The Walking Dead Season Nine premieres Sunday, October 7 on AMC.
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Image Credit: Netflix
