When The Walking Dead returns for six more episodes in early 2021, it will tackle something fans have been waiting for years to see on screen. One episode will be Negan-centric and explore the former villain’s backstory, as inspired by spinoff comic book series Here’s Negan. It appears the show will condense the tale into a single hour, then, but is there still room for the character to get his own solo project moving forward?
One fan pitched the idea to star Jeffrey Dean Morgan on Twitter, and the actor revealed that nothing is off the table right now. “We shall see,” he wrote. “I’d like to think no doors are closed. A great character with many stories to tell.” He then reminded fans that the parent series is not over yet and we’ve still got a whole 30 episodes to come, with Negan likely to survive at least most of them, before it all wraps up and we have to start thinking about any follow-up shows.
We shall see. I’d like to think no doors are closed. A great character with many stories to tell. But again, much still to do here on twd! Many episodes still to shoot. Right now I’m just excited about that!
— Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) November 14, 2020
Here’s Negan dived back into the character’s past, revealing that he was once a gym teacher who was cheating on his wife, Lucille, only for her to be diagnosed with terminal cancer. Negan broke off his affair to be by her side when she died, but she was reanimated as a walker as the zombie outbreak began.
The comic ran for 16 issues, so there’s definitely room to adapt it more faithfully in some kind of prequel project. Alternatively, as the Twitter user points out above, there’s this past summer’s Negan Lives one-shot as well, which picked up with the character after the main comic ended. So, a Negan spinoff could also follow what happens to him after season 11.
We know that Daryl and Carol are getting their own show in 2022, but it remains to be seen whether the former villain’s lifespan will go beyond the parent series, too. Like Morgan says, though, there’s plenty more of The Walking Dead left before we get to that stage.