Discussions have taken place over a potential Negan-focused The Walking Dead movie, Jeffrey Dean Morgan himself has revealed. The Walking Dead is currently undergoing a period of significant expansion, following the recent conclusion of Robert Kirkman's original comic book series. The Walking Dead season 10 is in the middle of production, with a trailer airing at last weekend's San Diego Comic Con, and the Fear The Walking Dead spinoff has been renewed for a sixth season, with the second half of season 5 set to begin next month. A third The Walking Dead series has also been announced, centered around a group of younger survivors in a Lord of the Flies-style setup.
Aside from The Walking Dead's television output, a theatrical movie release starring Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes is also currently in the works. The The Walking Dead movie will follow on from Rick's final TV episode, where the character was spirited away with Jadis via helicopter by a mysterious, unseen community. Details surrounding Rick's return remain scarce, but a teaser trailer was aired at SDCC 2019 that confirmed a theatrical run for the movie and suggested that Rick Grimes would find himself in Philadelphia, judging from the city skyline used in the teaser.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan has now suggested that a further The Walking Dead movie project could be in the pipeline, starring his own character, Negan. Speaking with Comicbook at SDCC 2019, Morgan was questioned about the possibility of a Negan movie and answered:
"I know that it's been discussed. We gotta do it before I get any older, I mean, pretty soon I'm not gonna be able to be the young Negan anymore."
This isn't the first time that some sort of Negan spinoff venture has been mooted. The former villain and leader of the Saviors has a rich comic backstory that was told through a separate limited series and Kirkman has expressed an interest in adapting this tale into live-action. Furthermore, Negan remains one of The Walking Dead's most popular and recognizable entities, and is currently experiencing somewhat of a redemption arc on the AMC series, managing to save Judith and Dog from a blizzard by risking his own life in season 9. With Andrew Lincoln gone, Danai Gurira leaving after The Walking Dead season 10 and Lauren Cohan's status pending, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is one of the franchise's few remaining big personalities.
It's interesting that Morgan refers to "the young Negan" in his answer, as the final chapter of The Walking Dead's comic series introduced a much older version of the character and the idea of a spinoff comic featuring an older Negan has already been floated. It's entirely plausible that a future The Walking Dead movie starring Negan could focus on the character's later life, moving away from the events of the original timeline. This would, like Rick's upcoming movie, allow Negan to explore entirely new territory and meet brand new characters, and would do so without transporting the wise-cracking brawler to a new locale.
The Walking Dead season 10 premieres October 6th on AMC.
Source: Comicbook