‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7 Updates: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Hints Negan’s Origin Story to be Featured; Creator Assures Fans of Avoiding Cliffhangers in Future

‘The Walking Dead’ season 7 is set to feature Negan’s origin story as teased by actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Meanwhile, creator Robert Kirkman assured fans that the show will avoid cliffhangers in the future after addressing backlash over season 6’s controversial finale.

According to Cinema Blend, Morgan teased that the incoming season of AMC’s zombie apocalypse series will feature his character’s origin story at some point. Morgan is set to reprise his role as the series’ latest primary antagonist Negan, an outbreak survivor and leader of the Saviors.

The 50-year old actor teased, “We'll find out how Negan has come to be who he is. We're going to get some backstory very quickly on how the Saviors operate and how Negan operates.”

In the original comic books, Negan was a used car salesman and a school coach before the outbreak. He was married to Lucille and lived an average life.  Little is known about the character before he rose to become the intelligent and charismatic man with a penchant for violence post-apocalypse.

Morgan’s imposing and highly-aggressive Negan was introduced into the television series in the season 6 finale entitled, “Last Day on Earth”. He was last seen bludgeoning a yet unconfirmed key character to death with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire in the cliffhanger episode. The cliffhanger sparked an online backlash among fans.

According to Time, creator Robert Kirkman addressed the show’s bold yet controversial strategy by assuring fans that they would avoid cliffhangers for season 7.

Kirkman said, “Look, I think as a creative person I have to acknowledge that all responses are valid, so I definitely have to take note that there’s a seemingly significant portion of the audience that wasn’t happy with that direction, so in that respect I think everyone on The Walking Dead creative team has taken note of that, and I don’t know that I would expect a similar cliffhanger at the end of season 7.”

He continued, “A lot of the responses were like, ‘Ah, these jerks trying to pull one over on us,’ and it’s like, ‘No. It’s all done in an effort to keep you entertained.'… We love the fan base, we love the audience and so if you didn’t like this one you’ll like the next one. We hopefully have many more seasons to go.”

Meanwhile, artist Charlie Adlard revealed that Negan will continue to be a prominent character in the original comic books. According to Huffington Post, Adlard teased, “Negan is definitely back. I’m pretty sure for the long haul.”

He said, “I don’t really know what his final game plan is, which is exciting… You don’t know where he’s going to go, which is probably quite unique in the character because you’ve pretty much got a grip on most of the characters ― good or bad. Whereas for Negan, you still think he could go either way, and I like that idea. Personally, I don’t think he’s as villainous as everyone assumes he is.”

‘The Walking Dead’ season 7 is expected to premiere on AMC on October 23, 2016.