There is good news on the horizon for fans of Robert Kirkman and The Walking Dead. This week, executive producer David Alpert spoke with The Walking Dead’s parent network, AMC, to discuss some plans the show has in the cards for future episodes. It sounds as if comic book character Negan will be making an appearance sooner rather than later.
In the AMC interview, Alpert was asked about elements the show has incorporated that the executive producer wishes Robert Kirkman had thought about and added when writing the comics. Instead of answering that question, Alpert noted that there are characters and premises from the comics the show can’t wait to incorporate.
“It’s more like things in the comic that I can’t wait to get to. I cannot wait until we introduce Negan. He is just like the coolest fucking character on the planet. You thought the Governor was bad news?”
That’s right, Negan, the fierce, ping-pong loving leader of “The Saviors” will eventually pop up on AMC’s version of The Walking Dead, although he will likely be a little less foul-mouthed than his comic counterpart since AMC is less excited about f-bombs than, say, Starz. Alpert’s excitement over bringing Negan on to the series is a little opposite from what we’ve heard from comic book creator Robert Kirkman, who also writes and gives creative input on the show. Last month, Kirkman told the Daily Dead we shouldn’t expect to see Negan on the series anytime soon.
“Not really. At the pace that we’re going, we’re talking about somewhere like Season 12. We certainly don’t think that far ahead about what’s going to be on the TV show.”
The writer also told the outlet that he has no interest in rushing the introduction of the character. Between that and Alpert not giving a date on Negan’s inclusion in the series, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that we likely won’t be getting Negan during The Walking Dead’s upcoming fifth season. I’m also really fucking displeased about the prospect.
While Kirkman has full creative reign over the comic book world he created, he’s not the showrunner on The Walking Dead. Scott Gimple is, and he’s the person calling the shots and working with the writers on where new seasons of AMC’s hit zombie series are headed. With a little luck, we’ll see Negan well before Season 12.
AMC’s The Walking Dead returns to the schedule Sunday, October 12 at 9 p.m. ET.
