The Walking Dead NYCC Panel: Everything We Learned

The Walking Dead‘s New York Comic Con was packed with reveals and information regarding the upcoming season. In fact, it was the juiciest bit of Walking Dead scoop since the Season 7 trailer dropped at San Diego Comic Con.

From a new clip revealing one of the survivors of Lucille, references to the comics, and teases from cast members, the picture of Season 7 is getting much more clear as we approach the premiere.

Just two weeks from a new episode of The Walking Dead, we’re going to take a look at everything we learned at New York Comic Con on the following slides. Be warned, this does mean mild spoilers follow.

Don’t Mess With Morgan

 

Carol will be in very good hands to start the new season. The character will find herself at the Kingdom under Ezekiel’s rule with Morgan Jones at her side. The two men have very strong beliefs and personalities which will likely influence Carol’s decisions going forward. If Morgan can convince her that all life is precious, maybe she’ll think the same of her own.

Morgan, however, is also dealing with his own demons by the sounds of Lennie James’ account. “If you notice, at the end [of Season 6] when he shoots that Savior in order to save Carol, I think one bullet would have done it but he emptied the clip,” Lennie James points out. “Those people who are begging for Morgan to return to the killer, be careful waht you wish for.”

Rick Survives

Given the clip shown at Madison Square Garden, we can finally confirm the first survivor from Negan’s line-up is Rick.

However, we can also assume that Eugene, Sasha, Carl, and Aaron are also safe. The blood splattered on Rick’s face is splashed onto the right side, indicating that the victim is on that side of Rick. So, still in grave danger are Abraham, Maggie, Glenn, Daryl, Michonne, and Rosita. 

Also revealed in the trailer was Daryl’s blanket being removed from him for some reason, with it laying beside the remains of Lucille’s victim.

The Iron is Hot

 

Alluding to Negan’s favorite method of punishment, Jeffrey Dean Morgan explained why people follow such a villain.

First, Morgan revealed a few details about his new character, calling him “a bit of a showman.

 “This world is his stage. You can call it cocky but we all watched Rick get cocky.” 

“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.”

The reference is directly tied to the fact that Negan uses irons to punish disloyal Saviors in the comics. The act has been evidenced on Dwight’s face already on the series but the process will likely be shown first hand in the upcoming season.

They’re Following The Comics

 

The new clip, showing the aftermath of Negan’s kill, followed the comics word for word with some of its dialogue.

“I’m gonna kill you,” Rick says in both the comics and TV series. “Not today. Not tomorrow. But I’m gonna kill you.”

The lines are an exact replica of the words used by Rick Grimes in Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics 100th issue after Glenn had his head bashed in. As noted earlier, the possibility of keeping the death true to the comics is a possibility based on his positioning in relation to Rick and the blood spatter on his face.

 

And They’re Not Following The Comics

 

Negan’s introductory scene in The Walking Dead comics ended with the new villain tossing his bat over his shoulder and marching off shortly after bashing Glenn’s skull in.

Regardless of who dies, the show has already taken a few liberties by comparison to the comics. 

Negan yanks Rick into the RV in a tease of slicing off Rick’s hand like the Governor did much earlier in the comics. This is very much off-course from the source material but Scott Gimple and others involved with the show have discussed a feeling of pressure to deliver in the premiere after a massive backlash following the Season 6 cliffhanger.

If they find a way to make Negan’s introduction even more impactful, audiences had best prepare themselves for an emotional roller coaster.

Face Swap

During the panel, a fan asked the cast members which The Walking Dead character they would most like to play if they had to play one other than their own. It prompted a bit of fun amongst the panelists as they revealed their answers.

Greg Nicotero – Juidith

Steve Yeun – Michonne

Lennie James – Eugene “because he rocks that hair.”

Norman Reedus – Negan

Jeffrey Dean Morgan – Abraham

Danai Gurira – Negan 6×16

Austin Nichols – Shane

Austin Nichols is one of the newest cast members on the show, so for him to throwback his answer to the earliest seasons with the memory of Shane earns some major points.

Of course, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s choice of Abraham is interesting as he may have killed Big Red.

Cohan Loves Fans

 

When the conversation turned to Lauren Cohan and Maggie’s emergence as a leader, the actress took a few moments to answer.

Cohan took a few moments to thank fans of The Walking Dead and had a few tears in her eyes while doing so. 

“You guys have all been on such a huge journey with us,” Cohan said. “Thank you and thank you for caring about our show and being mad when you don’t know things.”

A fan yelled, “I love you!” to which Cohan came back with, “I love you, too!”

“This is larger than our lives,” she says. “This is larger than our show. This is such a privilege,” she says with tears.”

Suicidal Carol

Fans of The Walking Dead are spending the off season worried about the core members of Rick’s group who find themselves at the mercy of Negan’s bat but there is another character they may soon start to sweat for.

Carol Peletier is in an equally dangerous place as anyone who is on their knees in front of Negan. However, her threat is not a menacing new villain, but her state of mind. The character was all but suicidal when we last saw her in the Season 6 finale and it sounds like she may continue the trend when we find her again.

“Every step she’s taken up to this moment has just devastated her up to this point,” Melissa McBride says of Carol at The Walking Dead‘s New York Comic Con panel at Madison Square Garden of the weekend. “What is it about this world that makes us want to survive so much? That’s a huge question.”

With Carol pondering her existence and why she wants to survive, one has to wonder if the The Walking Dead‘s most bad-ass lady will be fulfilling the destiny set for her on the pages of The Walking Dead comics.

In issue #42 of The Walking Dead comics, Carol decided she no longer wanted to live and fed herself to a zombie. After getting bitten, other characters found her bleeding out and were quick to offer help but she insisted they let her die. In fact, Carol was outlived by Sophia in the comic books, something which has been completely changed on the television series. 

Speaking to ComicBook.com a couple of weeks ago, McBride teased the same suicidal thoughts for her fan favorite character.

“This is a different season,” McBride says. “She’s definitely got some healing to do in her mind and where she wants to be on this earth, or [if] she wants to stick around or what.”