When it comes to television bad guys, it is hard to truly hate some of the greats. Boyd Crowder is one of the first who come to mind, Walter White on Breaking Bad, Al Swearengen on Deadwood is certainly a likeable villain, and it seems that The Walking Dead is set to introduce another to the mix with Negan. Executive producer David Alpert says as much in a new chat with IGN, noting that he wants to build this mystique around the character because he feels the payoff is that good:
“We want [people who don’t know Negan] to get into conversations with their friends like, ah, that’s nothing, and the friends who have read the comics be like, ‘Oh, you just don’t know. You just don’t know,'”
And why is Negan one of the best? The Governor was certainly touted as high on the list for The Walking Dead, especially when his comic counterpart is considered. But it would seem that Negan — and star Jeffrey Dean Morgan — is set to bring a new kind of villain to the screen:
“Negan is one of the greatest villains ever created in TV,” Alpert said of what’s ahead on The Walking Dead. “It’s the greatest comic book villain I’ve ever read. He’s amazing, he’s terrifying, he’s funny, he’s charming, and the reason why I think he’s so terrifying is he makes a certain amount of sense. Even though he does horrible, horrible horrific things, there’s a certain logic — a barbaric logic, but a logic — to it. I think it’s not just the horrible things he does, it’s the appeal of that logic. It takes a little while to wrap your head around it…
“This guy’s built something. He’s built something huge, and it’s really impressive what he’s been able to build. He’s done something way beyond what the Governor has done, and he’s not hiding behind the niceties the way the Governor was. He’s not pretending to be something that he’s not.
Alpert uses the term “fully self-actualized human” in the interview, which makes me happy because I can picture the horror on my psychology professor’s face. He also promises a brain melting time for fans when Jeffrey Dean Morgan makes his debut at the end of the season, likely having something to do with issue #100 of the comic series. But will we see somebody else get involved? One can only hope.
(Via IGN)
