The Walking Dead Fans Feel "Romantic Tension" Between Negan and Maggie

Things get physical and tensions are building between enemies-turned-allies Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) on The Walking Dead, but is there romantic tension? Spoiler warning for Season 11 Episode 5, "Out of the Ashes." After they're hunted by the Reapers on the Meridian mission to save Alexandria, their home left in ruins after The Whisperer War, Negan and Maggie make it to the Arbor Hills outpost where Hilltop benefactor Georgie (Jayne Atkinson) stashed supplies. Negan wants to take the food back to their starving community, but Maggie makes him wait for Daryl (Norman Reedus) and the others scattered after the Reaper attack on the road.

Negan gives it until sundown before heading out with a bag of stores to take back to Alexandria. "Not with those supplies, you aren't," says Maggie, stopping him. "This mission isn't finished." Negan asserts, "It is for me." 

Maggie rips the bag from his hands and shoves Negan away. He grabs hold of Maggie's arms and yells at her to "stop it," but she shakes Negan off and pushes back. Hard. They stare each other down, Maggie hits him again, and the standoff ends when Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) arrives with Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). 

Can we talk about that strange moment that felt like sexual tension between Negan and Maggie there? Was that purposeful? I know I'm not the only fan to see it! 😬@AMCTalkingDead @AMCTalkingDead #TheWalkingDead #TWD pic.twitter.com/3LG9nZ0etV

— DeanaMarie (@DeanaXburke) September 20, 2021

Negan leaves Maggie behind to die in a metro tunnel teeming with walkers to end "Acheron: Part 1," but the two have to trust and work together to escape a zombie-swarmed subway car in "Acheron: Part 2." Despite his fears that Maggie was leading him on a death march to kill him and avenge Glenn (Steven Yeun), her husband and the father of her son Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller), Negan saves Maggie from Reapers in "Hunted." 

"Maggie and Negan, they're the last two standing of this group. So they're just in this really uncomfortable position where neither trusts the other person, neither really even likes the other person," explained showrunner Angela Kang on The Walking Dead: Episode Insider. "Although I would say Negan has this kind of respect for Maggie. He doesn't trust her, but he does respect the type of leader that she is. But at the same time, Maggie just very grudgingly accepts that she needs him, but it's always uneasy between them."

The almost-fight happens after Negan tells Maggie to "cut your losses," but those losses are her people: Cole (James Devoti). Duncan (Marcus Lewis). Agatha (Laurie Fortier). All killed making the journey to Meridian that Negan warned was a suicide mission. 

"They can't even decide on whether to stay or go from this house," Kang said. "It works out the way Maggie wants, but it doesn't mean that Negan's wrong about everything he's saying to her, either."

Despite their temporary truce, Maggie still hates Negan and wants him dead, confirms the Negan actor. "Unfortunately for her, the only out, the only way that she's going to survive certain situations is if she lets Negan into the fold," Morgan said on Talking Dead. "It's as simple as that. What it is, is kind of what it is. She hates him but needs him."

READ: Lauren Cohan Explains Why Maggie Doesn't Kill Negan

READ: Why Negan Saves Maggie After Leaving Her to Die

READ: The Walking Dead's Grim Glenn and Negan Callback

Read on to see what Walking Dead fans are saying about the Maggie and Negan fight in "Out of the Ashes":