As “The Walking Dead” Season 6 creeps closer and closer to TV screens, many diehard fans of both the show and its comic book inspiration are wondering when, if ever, the series’ greatest villain yet, Negan, will be introduced. The proliferation of rumors about the character’s introduction has been going on for so long that a handful of actors already been linked to the role.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with Negan, you’re lucky. He’s perhaps the most heinous villain that comic book creator Robert Kirkman has ever come up with; completely trumping the Governor, who at least had his daughter to humanize him. Negan leads a group of not-so-kind survivors known as “the Saviors,” which run a mafia-like protection racket for communities like Alexandria, taking supplies in exchange for not killing the residents. The group is a colossal threat because they are both well-armed and have a shocking amount of people operating within it.
The reason fans have been so excited for Negan to show up on the AMC series is because he shakes up the group’s dynamic greatly, even killing one key character that exists on the show right now. Luckily, showrunner Scott M. Gimple has fielded questions about Negan being brought into the show on numerous occasions. Each time he tends to say the same thing that he said to Entertainment Weekly when asked in July.
“It’s absolutely a possibility,” Gimple said. “And when I say it’s a possibility, we have a plan in place, but there’s a couple variables for that plan that we’re deciding about. It really depends on a few factors as we move into setting up the last bit of the season story-wise.”
So, while we may not necessarily see Negan in Season 6 of the hit show, his bloody introduction seems unavoidable. As a result, many people are wondering which Hollywood actor will take on the role of this physically imposing, Cheshire grin-flashing antagonist. There have been numerous theories about who Robert Kirkman and the producers have in mind for the character.