Negan’s impact was felt in a big way in ‘The Walking Dead’ debut and his victim(s) speak out after their final episode…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It was six months in the making but ‘The Walking Dead’ finally revealed Negan’s victims on the season 7 premiere on Sunday night, but it turns out two people ultimately met their fate courtesy of his best girlfriend Lucille.
Negan started with his ominous game of “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” and ultimately landed on Sergeant Abraham Ford, who he smashed with the barbed wire wrapped baseball bat before the defiant former soldier told him to “suck my nuts”.
That only fueled Negan to swing that much harder as he turned Abraham’s head into mush. As if that wasn’t enough when Daryl decided to take a swing at the brutal dictator in charge of ‘The Saviors’, Negan decided to punish the group with one more member being beaten to death. This time he turned his bat on Glenn, who was brutally bashed before saying his final goodbye to his wife — “Maggie, I will find out”.
Following the episode Steven Yeun — who played Glenn — and Michael Cudlitz — who played Abraham — spoke about the experience on “The Talking Dead”.
For Yeun, this moment was nearly five years in the making after “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman first killed Glenn in his comics during the iconic issue No. 100 where Negan is introduced.
In a strange way, Yeun says from that moment forward he never really wanted anyone else to be Negan’s first victim because that was such a memorable way for a character to go out and he wanted that for Glenn.
“Personally for me the death in the comic, Robert (Kirkman) wrote such a messed up but at the same time incredible way to take something away. To make a story as impactful as it is and when you read that comic, you kind of don’t want that to go to anyone else,” Yeun explained. “It’s such an iconic moment and I think I said ‘don’t give that to anybody else’.
“It’s such a gnarly thing to say but sincerely, living that out was very wild but at the same time, that happening and being realized on television in a different medium and to do it the way that we did it is brave and at the same time super effecting. That for me was the motivation to be like that sounds great.”
In a way, Cudlitz felt the same about Abraham’s exit after the producers behind the show gave his character’s death to Denise last season. In the comics, Abraham is actually struck through the eye with an arrow to meet his demise, so Cudlitz knew he wasn’t going to be around forever.
Meeting his demise from Negan instead was a better way to go out and Abraham was himself right up until the end.
“For anyone that follows the graphic novel, he was on borrowed time. Denise took his death graciously two episodes prior. I think at that point I knew I had sort of gone beyond where he was in the graphic novel. I know that Mr. Kirkman has said he was not happy with how he took Abraham out in the graphic novel so I was curious to see where we go from there,” Cudlitz said.
“I think in the group, he made it very clear to Negan that if he was going to take somebody, take me. If it’s going to help protect the rest of the group. (He’s almost saying) fuck you.”
While it was bittersweet to say goodbye to the show, both Yeun and Cudlitz were satisfied with the way they exited and have no regrets that Negan ultimately knocked them both off in the season premiere.
Cudlitz enjoyed hearing Abraham’s defiance in the face of Negan’s brutality while Yeun says that Glenn went out exactly the way lived.
“I think Glenn died in a very Glenn way,” Yeun explained. “That’s what my wife Jo said, she said ‘he died in such a Glenn way’ which is perfect — still not thinking about himself. It’s appropriate that he ends there and then it’s also appropriate that he puts those last words out as a final lookout for each other.”
‘The Walking Dead’ season 7 is definitely off to a gruesome start and things are only going to go downhill from here for Rick Grimes and the other survivors now that Negan is the man in charge.
‘The Walking Dead’ returns next Sunday night at 9pm ET on AMC.
