In the incoming season 10B finale, Lauren Cohan’s Maggie Rhee will return to The Walking Dead after leaving in the early part of season 9. And she’ll find her friends in a very different place to when she left them. Not least that her husband’s murderer is now out of his jail cell and fighting alongside the good guys. Fans can’t wait to see how Maggie will react to Negan’s change of heart, but star Jeffrey Dean Morgan has an interesting idea for how his character’s relationship with the Rhee family could develop.
While speaking at the TWD virtual panel at Comic-Con@Home on Friday, Morgan suggested that Negan may form a bond with Maggie’s son Hershel, who would be eight years old at this stage. Following his connection with both Carl and Judith, the actor believes that the former villain has a more “honest” relationship with kids and wouldn’t lie to Hershel about what he did to his dad.
“Negan definitely has a soft spot for the younger generation, and we’ve seen that numerous times,” Morgan said. “I think he has a relationship with young kids that is very honest, and I don’t think that he would shy away from letting this kid know who he is, and try to work through it.”
Morgan clarified that this is just something he’s spitballing, but he thinks this could be a good way to explore Maggie realizing how Negan has changed since she’s been away.
“I think that may be a way — we’ll see, I’m not a writer on this show — but that may be a way that Maggie sees a different side of Negan, as well,” Morgan continued. “I think initially she’ll just want to kill him, but we’ll see what happens.”
Negan has “gone through such a journey in the last couple of years,” Morgan added, explaining how he’s enjoyed taking the ex-Savior leader down the road to redemption over the past two seasons.
“It’s been such a joy to play. This redemption arc has been amazing, and yet we still know that in there is Negan, and I don’t know that that will ever go away. So he’s gonna be walking a fine line, especially with Maggie.”
Cohan will return as Maggie in the season 10 finale, which has finally been given an air date, as we now know that The Walking Dead returns on October 4th. Season 10 will then air six additional episodes sometime in 2021.