'The Walking Dead' Has Cast Negan and It's Jeffrey Dean Morgan

If you’re not caught up on The Walking Dead TV series or comics, spoilers are ahead.

A new casting decision from The Hollywood Reporter is raising more questions about the status quo of The Walking Dead. Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey’s Anatomy, Watchmen) has been cast to play Negan, the show’s next major villain, who has a penchant for violence (natch) and who leads a brutal group called the Saviors. According to THR, Negan will debut in the Season 6 finale.

Besides a stellar, notable actor coming to The Walking Dead, Negan’s presence will no doubt get the internet buzzing. It’s all because of Glenn.

A few weeks ago on AMC’s The Walking Dead, Glenn died an undignified death in an alley full of walkers. Except we didn’t actually see Glenn dead, so fans suffering from denial have cooked up theories on how he could survive — like Nicholas’ useless body shielding Glenn, allowing him to crawl under a Dumpster or something.

That Glenn died so differently in the books has fueled fan speculation. In The Walking Dead issue #100, Negan shows up for the first time and brutally murders Glenn — in front of his family — with “Lucille,” a Louisville slugger wrapped in barbed wire.

I think Glenn is totally dead. His final scene lived up to everything The Walking Dead is about, and the show deviates from the comic books plenty. But that Negan is on his way to Alexandria is enough for even doubters like myself to pause and wonder how Glenn is doing in that back alley.

Maybe the show’s fifth season opening at Terminus really was foreshadowing Negan and Glenn.