Fans had known for months that theSeason 6finale ofThe Walking Deadwould introduceNegan, withJeffrey Dean Morgancoming aboard to star as the iconic villain fromRobert Kirkman’s comic books. We first meet Negan after the Saviors had set a trap for Rick and his crew, with Negan picking one member of Rick’s crew to kill, as punishment for the slaughter of his men earlier on this season. But we never saw who was killed by this villain.Entertainment Weeklycaught up with executive producerGreg Nicotero, who also directed last night’s season finale,Last Day on Earth, and he revealed that none of the cast members know who was killed off in the finale.
“No. It was specifically written that way. The POV shot looking up at Negan in that last moment, I don’t think anyone on that knew what happened. As a matter of fact, if I’m not mistaken, I think we had wrapped all of the actors, because the shot we did with Negan, the sun was coming up and Jeffrey was about to get on a plane and fly back to New York and we didn’t have anybody there because we didn’t want even somebody on the crew or somebody there to go, ‘Oh I get it, I know what’s going to happen.’ So I think they were all gone. We built a little rig for Jeffrey to hit so that there would be impact with the baseball bat.”
Right before Negan chooses who to kill, we see his baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, dubbedLucille, stopping in front of every character.Greg Nicoterosaid the episode was always intended to end in this fashion, cutting between characters more rapidly before Negan makes his final decision on who to kill. Fans of thecomic booksknow that Negan’s introductory speech is laced with profanities, which couldn’t be uttered on television.Greg Nicoterorevealed that an uncensored version of this scene will be available for fans on theBlu-rayrelease.
“We had to shoot two versions - we had to shoot the Blu-ray version, which had a lot of the swearing and a lot of Negan’s colorful language, and then we had to shoot the broadcast version. So when you get the DVD or the Blu-ray version, that will have the full Negan speech from the graphic novel.”
Many fans reacted quite negatively to thecliffhangerending, with showrunner Scott M. Gimple stating on theTalking Deadafter-show that the ending will only work if they deliver with a powerfulSeason 7premiere. The director teased that he “roughly” knows the story for theSeason 7premiere, while addressing the negative backlash. Here’s what he had to say, agreeing with Scott M. Gimple’s statement about delivering with theSeason 7premiere, while comparing the negativity to how some fans reacted to HBO’sGame of Thronesseason finale last summer.
“Oh yeah, I 100 percent agree. I haven’t read anything on 701 yet, but I know roughly the story. Without a doubt it’s going to be an amazing season premiere. I don’t think he’s wrong. Of course, I felt like he was saying that to me. Like, “Hi Greg, this is going to be your 16th episode that you’re directing so don’t screw it up. A lot of people are going to be watching.” I always feel like the pressure that I have to realize these scenes, like introducing Negan and killing Jesse, Sam, and Ron. It’s a lot of responsibility. Nobody lovesThe Walking Deadmore than Scott M. Gimple. you may quote me on that a thousand times over, because we’re making the show that we want to watch. It’s unfortunate that some people are very vocal and very negative about the choices that we make, but the bottom line is that this is a show I would watch. I watchedGame of Throneslast year and I’m excited for that show to come back online. Was I shocked at the end of last season? Yeah, but I don’t read anything on the Internet like, ‘Oh, I think this happened and that happened.’ I just want the filmmakers to take me on that journey, and that’s what we do: we take our audience on a journey. The graphic novel is going into a dark, dark place, andRobert Kirkmansaid it himself: in the graphic novels, every one of them ends with a cliffhanger, and it is dark. That’s what this story deserves. I know everyone’s anxious to get back to work and everyone’s very excited about where the show is going, all the way fromAndrew Lincolnand down. It’s like we’re starting over again and it’s great.”
In the comic books, Negan kills Glenn Rhee, played bySteven Yeun, a character who went through a near-death experience early on this season. The show has often altered stories from the comics, such as sparing Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), who died in the 98th issue of the comics after taking a crossbow arrow to the head. Instead, Alexandria doctor Denise Cloyd (Merritt Wever) was killed in a similar fashion by the Savior Dwight (Austin Amelio), using the crossbow he stole from Daryl (Norman Reedus). Who do you think Negan killed inThe Walking Deadseason finale? VisitEntertainment Weeklyfor the site’s full interview withGreg Nicotero.
