The Walking Dead Characters Who Could Return in Here’s Negan

The Walking Dead will take a swing at Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) untold origin story in “Here’s Negan,” the sixth and final episode of the extended season 10 airing in 2021, which could bring back characters not seen since season 8. When Carol (Melissa McBride) takes Negan on a journey to minimize increasing tension in the aftermath of the Whisperer War, Negan reflects on the events that led him to this point and comes to a conclusion about his future, according to the episode’s synopsis. The episode flashes back to the onset of the zombie apocalypse, where Negan suffers the loss of cancer-stricken wife Lucille (guest star Hilarie Burton Morgan) before emerging as the leader of an organized group called the Saviors.

In the 16-chapter origin story from the character’s creators Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, Negan moves from one short-lived group to another until he falls in with a camp of survivors where he meets married couple Dwight and Sherry.

As the group grows, and the charismatic and not-to-be-f**ked-with Negan displaces Dwight as the leader, Negan fashions a barbwire-wrapped baseball bat — lovingly named after his late wife — and forcefully unites factions of survivors into an army of extortionists called the Saviors.

In the television show, it’s Simon (Steven Ogg) who helps Negan seize power as the group leader and claim a factory, later named The Sanctuary, as their base of operations. The character, who doesn’t exist in the comic book, becomes Negan’s right-hand man but is killed by him for attempting a coup in season 8 episode “Worth.”

Like the comic book, Dwight (Austin Amelio) becomes one of Negan’s top lieutenants, and Sherry (Christine Evangelista) joins Amber (Autumn Dial) and Frankie (Elyse Nicole DuFour) as one of multiple “wives” in Negan’s harem.

Savior lieutenants who have since died include Laura (Lindsley Register) and DJ (Matt Mangum). Both characters already reappeared after death in episode 1013, “What We Become,” when Michonne (Danai Gurira) hallucinates what might have happened if she joined Negan and the Saviors.

Along with Simon, Laura, and DJ, other prominent Saviors who could return in the flashback episode include future lieutenants Arat (Elizabeth Ludlow), Gary (Mike Seal), and Gavin (Jayson Warner Smith). All three died before the events of The Walking Dead‘s tenth season.

Dwight and Sherry have since reunited on the western-set sixth season of Fear the Walking Dead, currently taking place more than a year after Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) defeats Negan to end the war against the Saviors in the season 8 finale of The Walking Dead. Filming on season 6 of the spinoff is currently ongoing with Amelio and Evangelista in Texas, which could preclude them from reuniting with Morgan on the Georgia set of The Walking Dead.

AMC has not announced which, if any, former Walking Dead stars might return and join the Morgans in “Here’s Negan.”

Directing the episode is Laura Belsey, who helmed Negan-centric season 10 episode “What It Always Is,” from a script by David Leslie Johnson, who penned Simon’s death episode as well as mid-season 10 premiere “Squeeze.”

The Walking Dead returns with new episodes on February 28, 2021, on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.