The Boys continues to show us the dangers of Compound V and Compound V24 in its fourth season. Hughie’s desperate attempt to save his ailing father ended in disaster in episode five. And, throughout the season, Butcher kept physically spiraling while trying to kill Homelander. He teamed up with a former colleague and friend, Joe Kessler (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), earlier in the season to dig into locating and using the supe-killing virus from Gen V to get the job done. The show turned all of this on its head in episode six by revealing that Joe Kessler is actually dead and a figment of Butcher’s imagination in The Boys. The supe-killing virus is also far more unstable and dangerous than we thought. 

In this episode, Butcher is still holding Sameer hostage to force him to make more of the virus. He goes out to gather the necessary ingredients needed and also has a long conversation with Joe Kessler about coming home from war. Of course, his visions of Becca continue as she urges him to make a better choice to save Ryan. Towards the end, both Becca and Joe Kessler are speaking to Butcher in a very “angel and devil on shoulders” type of way.

Joe Kessler Is Actually Dead and a Figment of Butcher’s Compound V24-Influenced Imagination

Becca urges Butcher against genocide (more on that later) while Kessler is ready to kill all supes. Suddenly, Butcher tells Becca to shut up (basically) and Butcher is shocked. We see things for what they are for the first time with Butcher having a full-on conversation with no one. So yes, Joe Kessler is not a living person but the physical representation of Billy Butcher’s dark side, a contrast with Becca’s light. This makes sense considering we never saw Joe Kessler interact with anyone else on the show. We cannot imagine what’s going through Sameer’s mind during his imprisonment. 

Speaking of him, he refuses to make more of the supe-killing virus. Why? Because to make the virus strong enough to kill Homelander, it would become very unstable and potent. It is airborne and highly contagious, which means the supe virus would not only kill the intended person (Homelander) but anyone with Compound V in their veins. That’s likely thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide at this point. Butcher is going to die either way but that puts Kimiko, Starlight, and Ryan, among others. 

What Happened to the Real Joe Kessler in The Boys Universe?

The Joe Kessler apparition reveals the real person died back when they were in the midst of a conflict in the Panjshir Valley. Butcher did not pull Kessler out and save him but instead left him to die, which checks out for good ole Billy. He cannot seem to remember that very real fact and buys into the idea that he’s scheming with his old buddy. The effects of Compound V24 (and that V shot) are taking a major toll on Butcher, indeed. Now, he must deal with his choice to cut off Sameer’s leg and the ramifications that will come from messing with Victoria’s man. 

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In the first episode of The Boys season four, we finally get to meet Joe Kessler, the mysterious character played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Until now, we only knew that he used to work with Butcher in some capacity. He’s admittedly not in the show’s first three episodes a lot but subsequent episodes do reveal more about who Jeffrey Dean Morgan is playing on The Boys. 

Episode one takes place six months after the events of season three. Billy Butcher is sick, no longer the leader of the Boys,and, well, pretty much everyone around him hates him. After a failed mission to kill Vice President-elect Victoria Neuman, Grace Mallory and President-elect Robert Singer call MM in for a heavy scolding. Butcher is not welcomed into the room but he is shocked with Joe Kessler appears at the CIA office. They worked together at the CIA and were in a war on some covert s**t. It’s been over 10 years ago, so they exchange some pleasantries and jokes before catching up over coffee.

Joe asks why Butcher is still trying to be down with the Boys. Butcher says he will get his leadership position back. Butcher is laser focused on killing Homelander and saving Ryan while Joe is clearly frustrated about Mallory’s preoccupation with killing Victoria Neuman. Joe says they need someone like him before supes start rounding up humans and putting them into camps. It’s not totally clear who the “they” is but we can assume that Joe is working on something behind Mallory’s back. 

We see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler again in episode three after Butcher admits to the Boys that he only has months to live. MM is unwilling to help Butcher with his dying mission of getting Ryan away from Homelander for good. So he goes to Kessler for assistance. Joe gives Butcher a powerful drug that will knock Ryan out and allow them to essentially hold him hostage at Grace’s safehouse. Butcher bakes the drug into cookies but, after opening up about his fears of dying, decides to earn his trust instead.

Joe feels like Butcher is wasting precious time. He reveals that he looked into Butcher’s medical files and knows about his diagnosis. He also says they “need” Ryan because the whole world is about to burn. This angers Butcher because he doesn’t want Ryan to be a killing asset. Joe warns that they either figure out how to train him or they may have to figure out how to kill him. Honestly, they are both making valid points. Ryan is only 12 years old and maybe shouldn’t be trained to be a soldier. However, his lack of training could prove to be dangerous. He did (accidentally) fling a man into the side of the building and crush him, after all. The question is whether Joe is someone with good intentions or not.

In episode five, Butcher meets with Joe and gives him photos from The Woods at God U. Joe says that he and Butcher should do the job of killing Homelander without the rest of the Boys because, well, they are all a mess. (He’s not wrong.) Joe says that the two of them don’t belong with decent people. Later on, Butcher goes with the crew, Stan Edgar, and Victoria Neuman. They find Sameer, a scientist working at Victoria’s secret lab who is also her daughter Zoe’s father. He argues with Annie/Starlight about whether they should use the last bit of the supe-killing virus to take a shot and make a run for it from the Compound V animals or try to use it on a man’s corpse to kill the deranged animals. MM talks sense into everyone and they make the latter choice to save everyone, but Butcher never goes with the flow.

At the end of the episode, Butcher brings Joe to the secluded farm after he’s tied up Sameer and cut one of his legs off at the knee. Butcher threatens Sameer to make more of the supe-killing virus, lest he wants to lose more body parts. This brutality pleases Joe, who smiles in the background. This certainly won’t go over well with anyone else…

Is Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s The Boys Character Joe Kessler From the Comics?

There isn’t a Joe Kessler in The Boys comics but there is a Howard Kessler. He’s a CIA analyst who feeds the Boys information. Butcher calls him Monkey due to a gross incident that happened at a brothel. Howard Kessler is a terrible person who tries to sexually assault a woman. Butcher responds to this by having his dog Terror deliver sickening justice. I’d rather not get into all that but it seems that Joe’s last name is simply a nod to that character and nothing more.

Right now, he’s the only friend that Butcher has who will help him complete his final missions. Let’s see what else we learn about Joe Kessler this season.

Originally published on June 13, 2024.

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One of the biggest mysteries going into The Boys season four is the details surrounding Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s mysterious character. At first, many fans (including me), thought he would play Tek Knight, the universe’s version of an unhinged Iron Man/Batman mashup. But we discovered that wasn’t true in Gen V when Tek Knight showed up in all his hole-loving glory. (No, I don’t want to talk about it.) The Boys season four is nearly here and, while the cast is remaining tight-lipped about who Jeffrey Dean Morgan will play, Eric Kripke is giving us a little more insight. 

In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Kripke said that Jeffrey Dean Morgan has wanted to join the show since its debut in 2019. This totally makes sense considering he portrays the diabolical Negan in The Walking Dead universe. A few things, including Morgan’s schedule, got in the way of it happening until now. Kripke says that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character in The Boys is actually a former colleague of Billy Butcher who also hates superheroes. He teased that this character is someone who would encourage Butcher’s often erratic decisions/behavior, which cannot be good for anyone in the end. 

We know that Butcher did several things before becoming the leader of the Boys. He was a Royal Marine Commando, a Special Air Service Operator, and later worked for the CIA when he came to the US. The latter is likely where he met Morgan’s mysterious character, who may still work for the organization in some capacity. We will have to wait and see what these two get into and if this character is truly trustworthy or not.

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The Walking Dead: Dead City (we will simply call it Dead City) is expanding this universe further with familiar faces. This spinoff series gets into action quickly with Maggie tracking down Negan just outside of New York City. As we already knew, Maggie needs Negan’s help to locate her son Hershel after he was taken by a new villain called the Croat (Željko Ivanek). Many fans (including me!) suspected the Croat was a former Savior who eventually formed his own version of the Sanctuary… and we were right. Here’s everything we know about the Croat and what he’s up to on The Walking Dead: Dead City. 

Who Is the Croat and What Is His Connection to Negan?

In Dead City’s debut episode, Maggie finds Negan, who is traveling with Ginny, a kid whose trauma has rendered her silent. We know that a couple of years have passed in this universe, so there are some gaps that the show will eventually explain. Negan wants to know why she’s stalking him and Maggie says she needs his help with finding and defeating the Croat. Negan pretends to not know him at first. That is, until Maggie says that the Croat’s group came into her community and began to do that famous Savior whistle.

Negan admits that the Croat was “an exceptionally insane son of a b**ch” and that Hershel is probably already dead. Maggie insists that he must help her because he still owes her (does he, though?) and reminds Negan that he’s a wanted man on the run with nowhere to go. Negan agrees to help her find the Croat but only because Maggie promises Ginny refuge and education in a safe community. After watching Negan and Maggie running from falling walker bodies, massive bugs, and a ruthless Marshall (Gaius Charles), we meet the Croat himself. 

At first glance, he looks more like someone’s grandfather than a ruthless leader. He confronts a bound Hershel, asking him what he knows about Negan. Hershel smart mouths him and The Croat prepares to torture him with a scythe-like instrument. But a worker interrupts him and his attention turns to an ill-fated prison escapee. 

In episode two, Negan reveals to Maggie that the Croat “showed up at his door” and had been through some terrible things. Apparently, his whole family died in front of his eyes. He took him in and the Croat began to call Negan his buraz (brother) because he made him feel safe. Negan says that while he was only a monster when he had to be to protect his people, the Croat liked to torture and toy with people for fun. The Croat was Negan’s resident torturer until an incident took place where he specifically told the Croat to let a young drifter girl go on her way. The Croat got her and did something so terrible that Negan wouldn’t even speak it aloud. Negan took a shot at him and missed, blowing off his ear. The Croat got away and Negan hadn’t heard of him since… until now.

Maggie tells the group that 1) he knows the Croat and 2) they can take him down much like the VA communities did with the Saviors. She wants Negan to be bait while they go in for the kill. Negan does prove to be helpful, giving them insight into the Croat’s way of thinking so they can devise a plan.

In episode four, we see a flashback of Negan and Simon confronting the Croat over a brutal murder. And, in the present time, Negan and the Croat come face to face for the first time in years. Unlike Negan’s prediction, the Croat welcomes him with open arms, wanting Negan to join his ranks. Negan refuses, of course, before saving Perlie’s life only for him to point a gun at him. Good times.

The Croat and His Burazi Group in The Walking Dead: Dead City, Explained

The Croat’s collective is known as the Burazi. The word buraz means brother in Croatian (the obvious reference for the Croat’s name) and Negan previously said that’s what the Croat called him. Towards the end of episode two, we find out via Tommaso that the Croat is known as “Van Gogh” and “the psycho.” And his Burazi are deeply, deeply feared throughout NYC. (They look like an evil version of Daft Punk when they are on the streets.)

Amaia later reveals that their group was struggling to survive after the military bombed all their exits from the island. And the Croat’s arrival made things worse. He offered shelter and creature comforts in exchange for joining his brutal group. Tommaso knows the Croat’s brutality all too well after being held captive and tortured for information. He escaped thanks to a walker (which they call fleshies) giving him an out, but thinks there’s no way Hershel is still alive.

We get a good look inside the Burazi’s complex at the Madison Square Garden in episode three and it is quite wild. There are these preservation tanks with human bodies, a Gladiator-style ring, and torture cells. The group also chants “Doma Smo!” which is Croatian for “We are at home!” They are essentially an even more twisted version of the Saviors with a “join us or die” mentality.

The Croat reveals to the captive Marshall that he worked in alternative energy before the outbreak. He literally uses the methane gas released by dead bodies to make a liquid fuel. The concept of death being a resource is a horrible message that he recites to his followers before making the Marshall breathe in that liquid and fight for his life. He also calls his place a “sanctuary,” which was the name of Negan’s complex. He’s a hands-on killer, from bashing in a man’s skull on a balcony to breaking a girl’s body apart while at the Sanctuary.

Based on Negan’s story, it doesn’t seem that any Saviors left with the Croat. We can only assume he found his collective over the years as he took over the island. The Croat’s existence truly speaks to the ripple effect that a single person can have in this world. It is very telling for the Croat and his group to do that Savior whistle years after Negan’s reign.

In a sense, this guy is a monster that is partially of Negan’s own creation. It is obvious he still subscribes to his conquering mindset. And if Negan—a man who bashed two people’s skulls to pulp with a barbed wire bat—thinks the Croat is a psychopath, then that is making a huge statement about what they are facing. Let’s see where Dead City takes us on this quest to save Hershel.

Originally published on June 18, 2023.

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If you’d told The Walking Dead fans back in season seven that Maggie and Negan would have an entire show together, we would have reacted in one of two ways. The first would have been simply looking at you like you had two heads and four eyeballs. The other one involves potential physical sparring after suggesting such a nonsense idea. But that’s exactly where we find ourselves now with The Walking Dead: Dead City, a spinoff series coming in June 2023. We know a bit about its location and new characters, but a new Dead City teaser reveals more about why Maggie and Negan come together. 

In the clip, Maggie’s son Herschel is kidnapped by an evil smirking dude. We don’t see Herschel clearly, but he’s certainly older than he was at the end of The Walking Dead. This lines up with the show taking place a couple of years after the flagship show’s ending. Maggie tells Negan that he is the key to getting his son back in the Dead City teaser. Now, it isn’t clear what that means right now. Perhaps Negan has some connection to the show’s big bad.

This same person (or group) could have done something to Negan’s wife, Annie, and their child, who don’t seem to be in the picture anymore. He does look rather forlorn in The Walking Dead: Dead City teaser, tbh. Or, maybe Negan is up to some suspect behavior that led to Herschel’s kidnapping. But either way, Maggie is only linking up with Negan to get her son back before death befalls him. And he owes her that much and more after killing Glenn many years ago on The Walking Dead. (No, I will not let it go.) 

It is a great extended mission that makes sense for a miniseries. And it will surely tie into finding out more about Rick in some way. Oh, walkers are also “falling from the sky,” so that’s great fun too. Let the countdown to Maggie and Negan’s adventures in the dead city begin.

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Update, 1/18/19:How does John Winchester return to Supernatural after he’s been absent from the series for 12 seasons? Co-showrunner Andrew Dabb told Entertainment Weekly it involves a wish. He says, “Our guys are put in a position where they essentially can have a wish granted. They’re actually expecting something else, but [John’s return] comes from a place of want by Dean. The need for closure is really what brings John back into their lives.â€Original post:Jeffrey Dean Morgan is probably  best known as the hateful Negan on The Walking Dead, or perhaps as the Comedian in the Watchmen movie. But before those iconic roles, he played John Winchester, the monster hunting father of Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) Winchester on the long running series Supernatural. And now, according to a report in TV Guide, it appears that Morgan is putting down the barbed-wire baseball bat and heading back to the CW for Supernatural’s 300th episode, which is set to air early next year.Morgan’s return will be in the episode titled “Lebanon,” and in a statement, the series’ producer Andrew Dabb said “We’re incredibly excited to have Jeffrey back for this milestone episode, and think fans will love what we have planned for his character… and a few other surprise guest stars.” Morgan first played the part of Papa Winchester way back in  Supernatural‘s 2005 pilot episode and then appeared another eleven times over the course of the series until the end of the show’s second season. How his character will return remains unknown.Supernatural’s 300th episode will air Thursday, Feb. 7 at 8/7c.

Images: Warner Brothers / the CW / AMC

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Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Andrew Lincoln‘s final episode of The Walking Dead, “What Comes After.” Proceed at your own risk.Well, as is often the case, The Walking Dead did an excellent job of misdirection, and kudos to AMC for trusting us writers with significant spoilers. There were many surprises in this week’s episode, not the least of which was yet another time jump at the end. But of course the main thing on every viewers mind was the expected departure of Rick Grimes, and the question of who’ll take his place from now on as the main protagonist.First, let’s just say Rick departed somewhat as we predicted with the Narnia analogy, substituting for Gabriel as Jadis’ prisoner, and after a near-death on a stone table, no less. He’s probably headed for the meritocracy known in the comics as Commonwealth, hence the “A” and “B” grades for prisoners, but we’re not likely to see that followed up on for a while, as the Whisperers are confirmed to be coming first.Rick may be technically still alive, but he’s way out of the action, which leaves room for a new leader to rise. Maggie, who learned that compassion beats revenge this week, would be the natural successor, but Lauren Cohan is leaving the show too. This leaves room for a more unexpected hero to rise, and it might just be the show’s one-time arch-villain.Almost as shocking as Rick’s destiny was the turn Negan took this week. All season thus far, he’s been set up as a Hannibal Lecter type, getting into his adversaries’ heads from behind bars, seemingly plotting his inevitable return to leadership, and forcing all the major heroes to confront their own demons by facing him and matching wits. The reveal, as he literally stepped into the light, that he was simply being the worst person he could in order to goad someone — anyone — into killing him was unexpected, and a necessary step to redemption. As any prison warden or drill instructor knows, you have to break down the difficult ones before you can build them up. In showing Negan utterly broken, with the lost bat named for his dead wife becoming his own personal “Rosebud,” the show is setting the stage for him to restart with a clean slate.[If you think a Citizen Kane reference is a reach, consider that much of this week was basically Bridge on the River Kwai, with Rick finally destroying the bridge he’d worked so hard to get cooperation for. The allusions are getting highbrow at times.]Which brings us to the time jump. In the episode’s final moments, we see an older Judith Grimes making like Kick-Ass‘ Hit Girl with walkers, donning the family hat and name-dropping like she’s a pint-sized James Bond. Judith is long-since dead in the comics, but Carl isn’t; the obvious inference is that they’ve let her grow up a bit so she can substitute for her late TV brother in future storylines. But who will then take Rick’s role? Perhaps the one other guy who felt protective of Carl, and whom Carl finally had hopes for: Negan. The battle against the Whisperers in the comics wound up forcing Negan onto the right side anyway, with Maggie’s attempt to kill him originally coming after all that, and seemingly offering him closure then.Moving that up in the timeline, and then cutting ahead a few years lets Negan be broken for a while without us having to linger on it as viewers. It’s realistic to assume he’d start to emotionally rebuild himself after a couple years at least, but we don’t have to wait around for that to happen if we skip ahead. Recent seasons of The Walking Dead were often accused of spinning their wheels, so getting straight to the next good part is yet another step up for this stronger-so-far season.Will viewers buy Negan as a hero? Well, he was getting tiresome as a villain, never really letting us see through the quippy facade. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is certainly capable of bringing more to the role, and the challenge of becoming likable is one the actor ought to relish, even if it’s going to take a ton of pride-swallowing from the character.What say you, fellow viewers? Is Negan the hero you need, or want? If not, is there anything he can do to get there? Sound off in comments!

Images: AMC

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Right now, the DCEU is in flux after the serious under performance of Justice League last month. Now, Variety is reporting that a major shakeup is coming to DC Films, starting in January: Ben Affleck is expected to leave the Batman role soon. But there was an interesting tidbit in that original report — apparently, while director Matt Reeves would recast Bruce Wayne for his new stand alone Batman movie, Ben Affleck would still reprise the role for a potential Flashpoint movie. But after that, the future of the Caped Crusader is up in the air.

Now, for those familiar with the Flashpoint comic book story, they know this would not require a lot of time from Affleck. The character of Bruce Wayne appears only briefly at the beginning and end of the story. In the comic book Flashpoint, The Flash travels back in time to save his mother from being murdered. In doing so, he created a ripple effect which results in an alternate timeline, one in which, among many other changes, Bruce Wayne’s parents were not killed in the alley that night. Instead, young Bruce Wayne was killed.

This change results in his father, Thomas Wayne becoming an even darker version of Batman. The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan played Bruce’s father in the flashback in Batman v Superman, which is why everyone expects him to play the Batman version of Thomas Wayne in Flashpoint. The Flash eventually restores the original timeline, but some things are still very different when he returns to his DC Universe.

The popular theory is that Warner Brothers will use a Flashpoint film to “fix” the issues with the DCEU, essentially erasing all the parts that audiences didn’t respond to, and keeping the things people like. When the Flash returns from his alternate universe adventure, could he find that Bruce Wayne is maybe now a different person all together? While it doesn’t make any real scientific sense, you could say the Flashpoint effect changed the universe so much that some people even appear different afterwards. Which means that the movie could start with Batfleck, but end with another actor as Bruce Wayne. Look, timey-wimey changes shouldn’t result in William Shatner suddenly looking like Chris Pine, but we accept it, right?

Ben Affleck has said that he was looking for a “graceful exit” for his Batman role, and this seems the most organic way to do it. The real question is, will Warner Brothers go through with a Flashpoint movie still? Almost everyone loved Ezra Miller as Flash, and I’d bet all the same people who came to see Justice League would see a Flash movie. A $200 million box office result for a Flash film would be totally acceptable I would think. I image we’ll find out once and for all in 2018.

What do you think of Ben Affleck playing Batman one more time in Flashpoint? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments!

Images: Warner Brothers

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Warning: This post contains potential spoilers for The Walking Dead. Read at your own risk! Season seven of The Walking Dead was an intense one. With the introduction of the biggest of Big Bads (Bigs Bad?) the show has seen so far, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the fandom was faced with an enemy unlike any it had seen before. Negan brought a huge amount of power to The Walking Dead universe, and with that power came a staggering amount of cruelty and brutality. That brutality cost us some of our most well-loved characters like [Spoilers] Sasha, Abraham, and Glenn.Negan brought a lot to the show, and arguably breathed new life into it. While it’s exciting to see the comic’s “All Out War” storyline finally come to fruition, it was pretty unclear how long this war with Negan would last. After all, some villains stick around for what seemed like a LONG time, like the Governor; others, like Terminus, get wiped out in an episode.Well, it looks like we have our answer. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Scott Gimple explained that, “The war will absolutely be resolved by the end of season eight. Absolutely.” So there you have it. It makes sense that the war definitively ends in the coming season. After all, if you’ve read the comics, you’ll know the time jump that introduces “Old Man Rick,” who we got a glimpse of in the season 8 trailer, is post-war (and hopefully post Negan getting the comeuppance Rick promised him).Of course, we don’t know how the show is going to handle the war and the time jump–or when it will happen in season eight. EW reported Rick Grimes himself, Andrew Lincoln, being pretty dodgey about the whole “old man Rick” situation and the show’s timeline, saying “I mean, it’s a gray Rick. It’s an older Rick. So by virtue of the fact that you see, that means that it’s in the future.”So while we know the war will end in season eight, we don’t know if it will be earlier or later in the season. Additionally, once the war is over, when will we meet our newest villains? Canonically, The Whisperers would be the next villains Rick’s group would meet, but Gimple offered no comment on whether or not we’d see The Whisperers and their leader, Alpha, in season eight. We’ll just have to wait for The Walking Dead to return to AMC on October 22 to see how Rick and his group handles the war and whatever comes next.Are you happy the “All Out War” storyline will be resolved this season? Do you think it will take the entire season, or will be it be ressolved earlier on? Tell us your season 8 theories in the comments!

Feature Image: AMC

Gif credit: Giphy, Giphy, Giphy

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Warning: The following has many spoilers for The Walking Dead season seven, so read on with care if you aren’t caught up.

This season on The Walking Dead has been heavy. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, Negan, has unleashed a flurry of deaths upon some of the series’ most beloved character. While fans of the comic book have a general idea of what’s coming for Negan, fans who’ve only seen the television show may be hoping that Negan’s death comes swiftly. However, as Comicbook.com reports, he’s not going anywhere any time soon. After an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Morgan said Negan is confirmed for season eight. While those hoping to get some swift and final justice over the brutal losses of Glenn and Abraham may be bummed, Negan’s continued presence is actually a really great thing for the show.

Negan will be the longest running Big Bad we’ve had on the show, the second being The Governor. And while The Governor provided us with a lot of conflict and heartache by beheading Herschel and destroying the prison, most of his character development happened away from the group. When the two worlds collided, it often came in the form of conflict. The Governor was an obstacle to be overcome, and while we did get a few glimpses into who he was as a human, he mainly existed to create trouble for Rick’s team.

Negan, however, is much more than that. Yes, he is certainly brutal, and his presence has given he series an even darker tone than it had prior. However, his presence has also upped the stakes on the show and created more significant conflict. Negan isn’t a villain plotting his next evil move in front of his walker aquariums. No, he’s in Alexandria, walking around and interacting with Rick and the group. What’s more, his legion of followers also refer to themselves as Negan, making him not a single, far-off target, but an enormous nonstop shit storm for Rick’s group. With Negan, it’s not just Team Rick versus Baddie. It’s now our group finding a permanent place in the world, and working to live in some semblance of peace with the rest of the living, which is the true sign humanity rebuilding.

It was mortifying to watch Rick broken to the point that he was nearly willing to chop off his own son’s arm. It was tragic to lose Glenn and Abraham. It was infuriating to watch Negan force Rick to carry Lucille around Alexandria. And it’s heartbreaking to watch the mental torture Daryl now endures week after week. However, with that darkness has come some very important additions to the show. It’s brought back that real fear that truly anyone could be killed. For a while, it seemed that The Walking Dead was only killing off tertiary characters we were starting to like and characters that were easily identifiable as “red shirts” (who can forget Glenn and the Magic Dumpster?). However, that’s not the case anymore. Steven Yeun was one of the remaining original cast members, and an undisputed fan-favorite. It was shocking to lose him, and reminded us that Robert Kirkman meant business when he said no one was safe.

Of course freely killing off major characters runs the risk of destroying everything an audience has to root for. However, Negan’s looming, seemingly omnipresent status has forced a great deal of development in other characters on the show. Since Negan’s arrival, we’ve gotten to see Rosita set up for a great deal of growth as one of the most obvious opponents to Negan’s rule. The same could be said for Sasha. Though the show has developed her character more than Rosita’s, she’s proving to be another growing force against Negan. This is the first time we’ve seen Maggie without the support of her family or her husband, and it looks as though the show is setting her up for her comic book journey as the formidable leader of Hilltop.

Even Carl is getting to stretch his legs more as a character since Negan came on the scene. He’s had it rough, growing up in the apocalypse, and has had to find his footing between being the kid who couldn’t ever stay in the damn house and being a heartless and crazed killer. He’s been in his dad’s shadow for quite some time, and now with his father stepping out of the limelight as The Ricktatorship, we’re getting to see more of Carl. He showed a ton of bravery when he thought Rick would have to cut off his arm, and it’s been interesting seeing him interact romantically with Enid. Fans of the comic book know that Carl’s post-apocalyptic upbringing causes him to not fear Negan in the way his adult counterparts do, and that spurs a very bizarre relationship between the two. And since we last left him in the back of a truck headed toward’s Negan’s camp, it looks like Carl’s about to set out on his comic book destiny.

Negan has expanded the world of The Walking Dead by sticking around for so long. Yes, he absolutely is a monster, but by not getting offed after a season, his story and constant presence is allowing characters to grow and the Walking Dead universe to expand and feel more permanent. That permanent universe gives meaning to the group’s fight for survival. Keeping him around into season eight (at least) is going to be painful at times, but it’s ultimately going to help push the show to the next level.

What do you think? Do you want to see more Negan, or are you bummed that he won’t be killed at the end of the season? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Images: AMC

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