It's a pretty [censored] good week to be a Walking Dead fan, especially if you're at Comic-Con. The show dropped the very first Season 7 trailer on everybody last week, giving us a better idea of what to expect from the new characters (like Ezekiel) and new locations. And during The Walking Dead's press conference, I asked Robert Kirkman and Scott Gimple if the show would continue filming multiple versions of Negan's scenes through Season 7 to release as uncensored cuts. Here's how Gimple put it.
Yes. I'm gonna say not every scene. It's the notable stuff. We're not going to be doing two takes of every scene where we just add the word 'fuck' in. [laughter]
Whether you're familiar with the comic or not, let it be known that Negan is a character for whom adult language is like a sixth sense. As easily as he's able to see or feel something, he's able to talk about it with as many F-bombs as humanly possible, as well as sporadic references to one's genitalia. He's a villain whose place on live-action TV would be similar to Scarface getting turned into a TNT series, and many fans worried that the show would water him down to make him better suited for advertisers.
But no, the creative team behind The Walking Dead had the solid idea for the Season 6 finale to just film specific scenes twice to allow for a safe-for-AMC edit, and an uncensored cut for Blu-rays and DVDs where Jeffrey Dean Morgan can speak the expletive-laden dialogue that's more faithful to the source material. Fans have yet to see exactly what that alternate take looks and sounds like, since Season 6 has yet to come out for home release, so it's unclear at this point if it will be worth the effort. At least for people who never read the comics. For anybody who ever got the heebie jeebies reading Negan telling Rick about what he just slipped down his throat, though, it should be quite a treat.
It was good of Gimple to point out that they're only doing the key scenes from the comics, presumably those where Negan's language is particularly memorable for its flowery filth. Hopefully there will also be simpler moments where a "fuckity fuck fuck" can come into play even without an entire sequence being involved. If Jeffrey Dean Morgan weren't already so damned good at spitting out foul atrocities, this probably wouldn't be as big of an issue.
The Walking Dead will [censored] return for Season [censored] 7 on AMC starting on [censored] Sunday, October 23, at 9 p.m. ET. Don't [censored] miss it, you [censored]. For everything else premiering later this year, check out our fall TV schedule.
