Warning! MAJOR SPOILERS for The Walking Dead comics ahead!
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The Whisperers have finally come to The Walking Dead and actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan really wants his character, Negan to meet them. First introduced in the season 9 midseason finale, the Whisperers are the latest enemy threatening the survivors and they're unlike anything they've faced before - including Negan.
Season 9 of The Walking Dead has seen huge changes to both its cast and setting, introducing a slew of new characters and jumping ahead in time six years. However, it's Negan who's undergone the most dramatic change. He's regained a bit of his swagger after suffering a complete and total breakdown earlier in the season, but it's clear that Negan's time behind bars and his sweet but strange rapport with Judith have softened him. He isn't exactly reformed, but Negan is no longer the enemy - the real enemy are the dead and those who hide among them.
Related: What Happened To Negan & Where His Story Goes Next
Last fall, Screen Rant visited the set of The Walking Dead and spoke with Jeffrey Dean Morgan about Negan's role in the new season. Specifically, Morgan was asked if Negan would cross paths with the Whisperers and if that meeting would play out similarly to how it goes down in the comics. Morgan's response neither confirms nor denies anything (as expected), but he is hopeful the AMC series will include some of what happens in the comics when Negan meets the Whisperers:
"Look, that one that we’re talking about, that you brought up, I would like very much to make come true. I love all the stuff with Beta and, as you know, we’ve added a couple amazing characters to this cast. I hope to god that Negan makes it to those scenes and that we decide that that’s not going to be a part of the comic we don’t do, y’know? There’s been that. I’ve looked forward to some storylines and then they haven’t come to pass.
I hope that those happen because as a fan of the comic I think they were very important moments. And as a fan of this character, I think they’re very important for the Negan storyline. If Negan’s storyline is just what we’ve seen so far, I’d be very disappointed because I think there’s so much more to this character."
For those unfamiliar with what happens in the comics, Negan is banished from Alexandria following his imprisonment. While wandering the surrounding area, he meets up with the Whisperers and joins them for a time. Quickly, though, Negan realizes that their lifestyle is way too removed from normal human society for his liking. So he kills their leader, Alpha and brings her severed head back to Rick as a peace offering. During this time, he also regularly clashes with Beta, Alpha's second-in-command, and he'll later try to kill Beta during the Whisperer War.
Whether or not AMC's The Walking Dead will include any of these iconic comic moments remains to be seen, but even if they do, it's unlikely any of this will happen in season 9. The show is only just beginning the Whisperer arc, so there's quite a bit of build-up left to go. Still, it's good to hear Morgan so excited over the prospect of diving in to Negan's time with the Whisperers. Observing one enemy through the eyes of a previous villain is a fascinating way to uncover some of the Whisperers secrets, and hopefully, the TV series will take a similar approach. Plus, as Morgan points out, there's a lot more to Negan than what we've seen, and having him interact with characters as weird and dangerous as the Whisperers would be a great way to further flesh out Negan.
Next: The Whisperers: Season 9's New Zombie Villains Explained
The Walking Dead season 9 continues next Sunday, February 17th with "Omega" at 9pm/8c on AMC.