Apparently, some folks don’t take too kindly to strangers murdering dozens of their friends. Apparently, some folks don’t take too kindly to having their supply chain disrupted. Apparently, some folks don’t take too kindly to encountering other alpha dogs in a post-apocalyptic hellscape. These are all traits that Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) possesses on The Walking Dead, but unfortunately for Rick and the survivors of Alexandria, he isn’t the only one who has them. On this Sunday’s season finale, Rick is going to meet his match in Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the biggest, baddest, most ruthless bastard we’ve seen to date. And today, AMC is giving us our best look yet at Negan in a brand new teaser photo.
Now, to some of you out there, he might look like a glorified Tunnel Snake who managed to escape Vault 101 from Fallout 3. But his tough-guy greaser looks aren’t for show. And neither is Lucille, the barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat so casually slung over his shoulder. (See issue #100 of The Walking Dead for Negan’s, ahem, dramatic introduction.) Based on the preview for next week’s episode, which features the chilling message “the price will be paid,” it’s safe to say that one (or more) beloved characters will be meeting the business end of Lucille and will not be returning for season seven.
Here’s what Robert Kirkman had to say about the character of Negan in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“Negan is kind. Negan is respectful. Negan is psychotic. Negan is ruthless. This is a very nuanced character that has a lot of different shades to him. Thereâs a lot of honor to him. Thereâs a rule system in place. I think heâs unlike anything anybodyâs experienced in The Walking Dead thus far. Heâs definitely a different kind of bad guy. Heâs sadistic and dangerous and all those things that you would expect from a Governor, but heâs much more in control. Heâs much less sporadic and he has much less of a temper. This is not a guy whoâs going to lose control and start shooting his own people the way the Governor did.“
If that doesn’t send a chill up your spine, I don’t know what will. Actually, I do know what will because I’ve read all of the comics, and it does not bode well for anyone involved. After all, Andrew Lincoln said that just reading the script for the season finale made him “sick to [his] stomach.”
If you’d like to learn more about Negan’s comic book history, you can watch this video, but be forewarned that it contains spoilers.
The Walking Dead‘s 90-minute season finale airs Sunday, April 3 at 9pm on AMC.
What do you think will happen in the season finale? Who do you think will get kissed by Lucille? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image:Â Gene Page/AMC
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter and ask him about his TWD fan theories (@Osteoferocious).