Jeffrey Dean Morgan Reacts To Negan Spinoff Spoiling His Walking Dead Fate

The Walking Dead star, Jeffery Dean Morgan, recently reacted to the official announcement about the spinoff, Isle of the Dead, starring Lauren Cohen and himself, spoiling his character’s fate. The two actors play Maggie Rhea and Negan, respectively, and can be seen in the 11th and final season of The Walking Dead, which is currently airing the second out of 3 installments. Maggie has been a fan favorite since appearing in season 2, while Negan’s journey from maniacal villain to more beloved anti-hero started at the end of season 6.

The two crossed paths with Negan’s introduction when he ended the life of Maggie’s husband Glen with his barb-wire-wrapped baseball bat named Lucille in a display of grotesque brutality. Several seasons have passed since that fateful night, and while both characters remain uneasy about the other, they’ve entered an unlikely alliance of neither directly trying to kill off the other. Two other Walking Dead spinoffs have found varying degrees of success, with Fear the Walking Dead outperforming World Beyond. Specific details about Isle of the Dead are still under wraps, but Morgan has already teased the spinoff’s re-inventive nature.

As announced by TVLine, an interview between Morgan and Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show revealed Morgan’s surprise that the news of Isle of the Dead was announced before the cast had even finished filming the final episode of The Walking Dead, calling the news “sort of a shocker.“ Morgan had to laugh at the news, because it undoubtedly confirms his character of Negan survives the show’s finale. His full comment can be read below: 

“And now we’ve announced that we’re going to do a spin-off so I guess Negan doesn’t die. Spoiler alert folks, sorry. I’m still not sure why we announced that already, it was sort of a shocker to me. But we’re going to be shooting in Manhattan so I get to be home which will be super cool and I think seeing zombies in Manhattan is gonna be kinda super fantastic.”

The current season of The Walking Dead still has to finish playing out the increasing tension between the core group of characters and the newly introduced characters of The Commonwealth. Time jumps have alluded to a major confrontation, but there are still a few episodes left in the second part of the final season, which will conclude with the third part later in the year. There’s also still anticipation for the long-awaited return of Andrew Garfield’s character of Rick Grimes on the big screen, who’s been MIA since season 9. 

While The Walking Dead wraps filming this month, the show and its spinoffs have continued to adapt and reinvent its comic book source material to ensure a lengthy reign for the zombie franchise. Even moderate success of its spinoffs still proves that viewers are hungry for more in a time where the TV market is saturated with content. How Maggie and Negan survive this season is still unknown, but throwing them into not only a new locale, but one as iconic as Manhattan, will surely be the fresh delivery that audiences have been craving. Isle of the Dead may not be the first or only Walking Dead spinoff in the works, but it’s already being teased as one of the biggest.