Fans of The Walking Dead have already been waiting months for the highly anticipated arrival of comic book villain Negan. Negan, who will be played by established actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is one of the comic’s most nefarious and violent characters. So, it’s safe to assume that shit is going to hit the fan once he hits the small screen. However, Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple has recently opened about the true danger in the show moving forward:
Some of the scariest people in the back half of the season are our people. These characters are at their strongest right now, but the problem is, the threats of the world are also at their strongest. We'll see these immovable objects meet.
Well I’m pretty blindsided by that statement. But it does make sense. After all, our group of survivors are all extremely deadly fighters. To add to that, they’ve been able to get their strength back behind the walls of the Alexandria safe zone. They’ve been able to get well-needed rest, they haven't had to worry about food, and they even have an armory at their disposal.
They’re going to need it too- because Rick’s group of survivors is facing a variety of threats at the moment. In addition to the horde of zombies that are currently roaming Alexandria, there are presumably more Wolves out there (including the one who kidnapped Denise), as well as Negan’s group of saviors. That’s going to take a lot of bullets, and a ton of luck.
Negan’s group will undoubtedly be the most severe threat to our group. In Daryl’s one starring episode of the season, “Always Accountable” we are told by Dwight that the saviors have safety, supplies, and people at their disposal. It sounds like the crash course training that Rosita gave the Alexandrians might have been too little, too late.
Scott Gimple’s comments may be teasing a darker side of Rick’s group, as well. If they’re the scariest ones, it means they may be taking extreme measures to ensure their safety. Indeed, we’ve been teased with a majorly gruesome comic moment by the trailer for the winter premiere of The Walking Dead. Adding Rick’s statements to Tara and Michonne that they can’t possibly save all of the Alexandrians, it seems like our merry group of survivors might do some terrible things to their community members in order to live.
It should be be interesting to see how the more moral members of the group (Morgan, Michonne, Father Gabriel) attempt to keep the group on a steady path when chaos occurs. Deanna’s final words to Rick were that all of the community are his people- but it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to follow through in reality.
The Walking Dead is returning to AMC on February 14th and is promising a violent first episode. We’ll see how scary our group truly can be at that time.
