Last night, the first half ofThe Walking Dead Season 6came to a close with the midseason finaleStart to Finish, the beloved show’s final episode in 2015. During a new episode ofInto the Badlandsand later on the after-showTalking Dead,AMCaired a two-minute prologue for the next chapter ofThe Walking Dead, where fans heard the first mention of an iconic villain fromRobert Kirkman’s comics,Negan. Unfortunately, we don’t actually see Negan in this footage, but we do get our first look at a few members from his group, known in the comics as The Saviors.
We reported earlier this month thatJeffrey Dean Morganhas been cast as Negan, who will be introduced inThe Walking Dead Season 6finale, before becoming a series regular inThe Walking Dead Season 7. Negan’s arrival may be a sign that a beloved character will be killed off soon, but we’ll have to wait until theSeason 6finale to find out for sure. Negan is introduced in the 100th issue ofThe Walking Dead, where he and his group took Rick and the Alexandrians by surprise, before choosing a random person to kill, Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun).
Fans are just starting to get over the almost-death of Glenn, since we saw him fall into a zombie herd with Nicholas (Michael Traynor) in this season’s third episodeThank You. For several episodes, Glenn’s fate was unclear, but we found out in last week’sHeads Upthat he managed to escape alive, as he began his journey back to Alexandria with Enid (Katelyn Nacon). Towards the end of last night’s mid-season finale, Start To Finish, we saw both Glenn and Enid scaling a tree near one of the Alexandria walls.
It isn’t known yet if theSeason 6finale will beSteven Yeun’s last episode, but the introduction of Negan will certainly give the show a new dynamic. In the comics, Negan uses his group The Saviors to intimidate other communities such as the Hilltop Colony and The Kingdom into paying tribute to them, in exchange for The Saviors providing protection from the zombies. Negan’s favorite weapon is a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, which he has dubbed Lucille, which is what he kills Glenn with in the comics.
The Walking Dead’smidseason premiereis slated to air on Valentine’s Day, Sunday, February 14 at 9 PM ET, followed by the after-showTalking Dead. Negan is still alive in the comics, so it’s possible the show could be setting him up as a long-termvillainin this hitzombieseries. Do you think Glenn will be killed by Negan in the season finale ofThe Walking Deadnext year? Let us know what you think, after checking out this two-minute prologue, featuring Daryl (Norman Reedus), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) meeting The Saviors. We also have the full photo gallery from last night’s Fall Season finale.
