'The Walking Dead's Jeffrey Dean Morgan Wants Daryl and Negan to Become Buddies

Following the death of Carl Grimes on The Walking Dead, fans started to wonder just how Negan's comic book chemistry with the son of his greatest opponent would develop onscreen. Rick Grimes's departure from the show makes that question even more significant.

And fans have an idea that series star Jeffrey Dean Morgan seems to like: give the part to Daryl Dixon.

Daryl, a character created for the TV series, is expected to step into Rick's leadership role in some other ways in the coming second half of the season -- but Rick's uneasy alliance with Negan was one of the defining elements of the comics during a time when The Whisperers -- who made a big splash in their first official appearance last night -- were the book's primary threat.

Yeah. Let’s do THAT!! Hehehe...

— Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) November 26, 2018

Morgan plays Negan on AMC's hit zombie apocalypse show, a character who debuted in Image Comics' The Walking Dead #100 (2012) as created by TWD creators Robert Kirkman and Charle Adlard. Negan made his live-action debut in "Last Day on Earth," the highly-anticipated finale of season six.

Although Negan has been imprisoned for the duration of season nine, the character escaped in the midseason finale. According to The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang, she's excited to see where Negan goes next.

"I am excited for fans to watch and see what happens, because I think Negan is a complicated character and we've seen that he's a guy who will bash in people's heads to make a point," Kang told Comicbook.com. "We've also seen that he was at the lowest of the low point earlier in the season, was suicidal. We've also seen that he has a particular relationship with Judith Grimes that seems like pretty friendly and nice. And so, all of these things are kind of churning within Negan, and that's part of his story going forward. So I think that there's some interesting twists and turns to be had with Negan one way or the other."

In the comics, his journey pitted him against The Whisperers, and forged an alliance of convenience with Alexandria, and in particular Rick and Carl. With the Grimes family unaccounted for on the TV series, Negan will have to find some new running buddies.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019.