The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan shares cut scene from Dead City premiere
Negan is running from his past in the season 2 premiere.
The Walking Dead legend Jeffrey Dean Morgan has opened up about a deleted scene from the season 2 premiere of Dead City, which symbolises how far his character has come since his gruesome debut.
Morgan plays Negan in the sci-fi horror franchise, who began as one of the show's most fearsome villains, murdering both Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) in quick succession in his early appearances.
However, the character has endured for almost a decade since then, during which time he has shown a more sympathetic side and morphed into more of an antihero, with Dead City reinforcing that change in direction.
As Negan finds himself in the mist of a Manhattan turf war in season 2, the character is faced with the ugliness of his past and pressured to give into his violent side once more – even being presented with an updated version of his trademark baseball bat.
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However, a deleted scene detailed by Morgan (via Deadline) demonstrates Negan's profound inner conflict, as he tries desperately to reject the attempts to lure him back into the darkness.
"It got cut out, and I don’t know why, but I threw the bat across the cell because he's been working for years to get away from that Negan, to not be the head cracking guy," the actor recalled.
"Lucille [his old baseball bat's nickname, dedicated to his late wife] and the leather coat, all that stuff reminds him of that Negan. He's been working hard to be someone else or get away from it least – that part of who he had to become during the apocalypse."
Morgan continued: "Now these people are blackmailing him into becoming that guy again, and he's fighting it.
"At the end of the first season, you see him trying to be someone else and move away from that part of his life. Here, he is being asked and blackmailed to be the guy that he doesn't want to be, which is a cool thing to have to play."
Read more:
- How to watch The Walking Dead in order: Every series and spin-off
- Andrew Lincoln opens up on Walking Dead return: "There was an unfinished story"
The Walking Dead: Dead City also continues the journey of original series character Maggie (Lauren Cohan), who finds herself on the opposite side of the battle for New York City in season 2. The series returns to the UK next month.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 is coming soon to Sky and NOW.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
