The Walking Dead casts Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan!

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Let the guessing games cease: We know who’s playing uber-villain Negan in AMC’s The Walking Dead!

Jeffrey Dean Morgan (WATCHMEN) has been cast as the evil leader of a savage group in the sixth season of the series, which just aired its fourth episode. While in the comic series Negan rules over “The Saviors,” there’s little doubt that in the show he’ll be revealed as the man behind The Wolves, the single-minded and psychopathic human antagonists currently haunting the “safe zone” of Alexandria. People unfamiliar with the comics should know that Negan is the franchise’s premiere bad guy – way more so than The Governor. When he’s not dropping F-bombs and cracking jokes, he’s cracking skulls with the help of “Lucille,” his trusty barbed-wire covered baseball bat.

Rumor has it Negan will arrive in the season six finale directed by Greg Nicotero, but it seems likely he’ll be teased before that. Production on the finale begins this week in Atlanta.

Interesting note: Timothy Olyphant, Matt Dillon and Garret Dillahunt were among the actors being considered for the role, but Morgan – who we know can play charming as well as maniacal thanks to his take on The Comedian in WATCHMEN – walked away with the role, bat in hand.