Can 'The Walking Dead' Use The F-Word Now?

Though Negan has been censored by comparison to his Walking Dead comic book counterpart, the AMC series will soon be loosening up on the foul language barrier.

During The Walking Dead's off-season, AMC made a change in its policy on using the F-word during its broadcasts. Now, The Walking Dead and its sibling series Fear the Walking Dead are allowed to use the F-word twice in a single season. While that's not enough to equate Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan to the illustration in Robert Kirkman's comics, it is step in that direction should the villain fill the show's quota.

"You get a specific number of curse words you can say, and then there's a list of what you can and can't do," former Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson told ComicBook.com. "I think it was our script coordinator who told me there was an email had come up; there had been a memo saying we could now say "f---" twice over the course of an entire season."

While The Walking Dead has not yet used the F-word in its eighth season, Fear the Walking Dead slipped two into its third.

Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln tells ComicBook.com the AMC series cut one of his first uses of the word in the Season 8 premiere. "I only did one take where I didn't swear on the countdown," Lincoln said. "I just went, '10, 9, 8, 7.. Ah, f--- it,' and then started shooting. That must be the only take that I didn't swear so I think that it's important everybody knows that, in my head, I was saying 'F--- it!' just as I fired the gun at Negan. With every shot."

According to The Walking Dead's visual effects genius and executive producer Greg Nicotero on ComicBook.com's After the Dead, the F-word's absence in Episode 100 was due to the change coming after the edit had been locked. "The moment that Andy's talking about is when [Rick] says to Negan, 'Oh, you're gonna make me count?' And the he goes, '10, 9, 8, 7,' and then he just goes, 'Ah, F it!' Cocks the gun and opens fire on Negan and the group," Nicotero explained. "We had finished mixing this episode before the F-takes were approved by AMC. Otherwise, that would've been the perfect spot to put it in."

Fans should expect to hear an F-word on The Walking Dead prior to the midseason hiatus, however.

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