Jeffrey Dean Morgan Teases a "Different" Negan in 'The Walking Dead: Dead City' Season 2

During the original run of AMC's The Walking Dead, several characters underwent dramatic changes throughout the show's 11 seasons. Whether it was Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes, who went from noble leader to cold-blooded killer and then back to inspirational community leader, or Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon, who went from silent outsider to one of the pillars of Alexandria, there was always an exciting evolution for the cast. Perhaps one of the most extreme examples is Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character, Negan, who now has his own spin-off, The Walking Dead: Dead City. And now, the actor has revealed that more changes are coming...

In an interview with Screen Rant, the actor spoke about how Negan had once been the most infamous villain on The Walking Dead. Now, with his co-starring role alongside Lauren Cohan's Maggie in Dead City, the character is being seen in a softer, more vulnerable light as a man looking for redemption, as Morgan would say:

"With Dead City, I don't know that it's the last year at all, but I think it's forming this character who, when we first met him, was the worst person in the world. And as time has gone by, we see a different side of him."

The cast and crew behind Dead City have already teased that the upcoming season will feature some of the most vicious villains The Walking Dead world has seen yet. It makes sense that only a more twisted villain than what Negan was in The Walking Dead would be needed to help paint the former villain in a more sympathetic light. Slowly building to a softer version of the character is also something Jeffrey Dean Morgan has become accustomed to.

'The Walking Dead: Dead City' Season 2 Will Continue to Humanize Negan

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is currently doing the media rounds to promote his new movie Neighborhood Watch, in which he stars in alongside Jack Quaid. Morgan went on to bring up his co-star's way of coming across as a friendly character before revealing a dark side. For Morgan's approach to Negan, it'll be the opposite, and it's something Morgan has become adept at, having done this for several characters he's played in the past:

"Jack [Quaid] kind of plays characters that on the outside are really good, and then he's got this dark side. I'm the exact opposite. I always come out of the box real f--king dark, and then you find out that there's another side to him. I think that this year, we'll find out yet another side of Negan and his relationship, and how that works with Maggie in this world of post-apocalyptic New York. And, you know, the story continues. It's going to be a fun year.”

The Walking Dead: Dead City is just one of two spin-offs currently in production, with Daryl Dixon's show also having a third season set to air sometime in 2025. Despite the main series concluding, the world of The Walking Dead is alive and thriving with its exploration of old characters in exciting new cities. As Negan and Maggie continue to develop as characters in a zombie-infested New York City, fans can expect the upcoming second season to continue to show new sides of what was once a brutal villain.