MovieChat Forums > The Walking Dead (2010) Discussion > So are we ready to embrace Negan as a go...

So are we ready to embrace Negan as a good guy now?

posted 6 years ago by bohemianroxie (2478)
16 replies | jump to latest

I knew it was coming..it has been coming..And for him, I suppose, it has been 6 or 7 years. But not for us.
I do like Jeffrey Dean Morgan and I do think he got the short end of the shaft in occupying the 2 worst seasons ever of TWD. But are we really to believe that deep down Negan's really a swell guy and accept him as a new protagonist....maybe even one of the main protagonist..despite all the misery he once caused everyone?
I even hear people on Reddit singing his praises and ready and willing to elect him as the new leader of Hilltop. You think?
I don't think so.

Look..with a despicable villain like Alpha running amok even I may give Negan a little more leverage...but never as leader of Hilltop. Nope. Not that .
There is one thing I wish they'd do before proceeding into insisting Negan is a changed man and that would be that the worst of his living victims to be able to forgive him. I think that Maggie would qualify.
But could or would Maggie ever do that?

[–] winslow (1318) 6 years ago

Negan won't ever be a totally good guy. But I don't think he would do anything to hurt Judith or Michonne.

[–] exatera (3963) 6 years ago

Negan needs people, and these are his people now. I don't know if he is a good guy now, but I do believe he has rehabilitated somewhat.

Also, they need him to fight the Alpha.

I actually wasn't sure if I'll be watching season 10, but this turn of events made me want to continue. Or at least not take it off the season pass manager on my TiVo just yet.

[–] OhHeyBro (362) 6 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihero

[–] Ripkens25 (2048) 6 years ago

It will be interesting. TWD has always been a show that breaks the rules. Were we ready to see a horse get devoured by walkers? No, but it happened. Were we ready to see a child become a walker, and get taken down as a result? No, but it happened. Were we ready to see the most beloved character...get pulverized by Lucielle? No, but it happened.

I don't think Negan SHOULD ever get a reprieve for what he did--it was unredeemable. However, I love that the show will break the rules once again....and try. Because we WILL have mixed feelings about it. TWD keeps you off balance, questioning things...and getting angry, constantly. You can't get comfortable for long, because something new will throw you off.

Negan (and the actor, JDM)....is very charismatic....almost, dare I say, likeable. So we have this dichotomy at play, which I think is great for the show. It would be one thing if things were black and white.....Negan wore the black hat, twisted his mustache and had a sinister laugh. We'd know he was the bad guy, and that's that. However....similar to how Die Hard mastered the concept of....the likeable villain, I think that is in play here as well. Like it or not, you're gonna start finding a soft spot for ol' Negan here and there. Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

There will be some VERY interesting dynamics with all of this....especially when it comes to Michonne, Maggie and Rosita.
But that's part of why TWD is still a great show. Anything can happen.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

We need Negan to smash the Whisperers!

[–] brux (14753) 6 years ago

Negan should stay in prison forever ... and who cares if he freezes, they should have left him there. The contrived nonsense where Judith went running off into a snowstorm was ridiculous, she would not go that. Negan is the Hitler of the Post-apocalypse world, he needs to stay in prison or worse. The way he needlessly torments Gabriel is proof of that point that he is still a sadistic manipulator.

[–] brux (14753) 6 years ago

Maggie was weak not to kill Negan. Rich was stupid not to kill Negan. Daryl should have stepped in to do the needful.

[–] Ripkens25 (2048) 6 years ago

I hope they get around to showing a flashback of Negan’s past life, pre-ZA. Kinda like the one brief scene they did, showing Michone’s home life with family, as a lawyer, pre-ZA. It would be great to find out Negan was something like a school teacher or pediatrician. Can you imagine a scene with Negan up at the chalkboard, calling on a kid to answer a question. She gets the answer right, and he does that trademark move, where he leans back, cocks his head and flashes a grin before saying something. In this case, he'd say something nice to the student about her answer. They REALLY need to address his backstory.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Angela Kang just said, on The Talking Dead, that he had a background working with kids.

I couldn't see him as a pediatrician though. He doesn't seem that type of smart. Plus, think about all the problems The Saviours had obtaining a doctor.

[–] AaronSynn (284) 6 years ago

In the comics, he used to be a gym teacher....

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

That makes sense (even if it's a bit of a cliché).

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Negan just saved Judith. And you wanted him dead?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I think Negan is a 'necessary evil' so to speak, in order to defeat an even greater threat, The Whisperers.

Also, I like the message that Carl, and then Rick, Michonne and Judith preached: that people, even the most heinous, are capable of change.

[–] LordBAElish (2015) 6 years ago

Negan will never change, but he sees this group as his people now, so he will protect them, as he claimed he did for the saviors. I bet given the chance he would still bash some heads in and given the chance would go ape shit on some Whisperers. Any of the characters who saw him bash Abe's and Glenn's head in or were living under his rule at Alexandria / Kingdom/ Hilltop could never forgive this guy. Maybe he will gain some support from the new people, but he will never be a free man as long as Michone, Daryl, etc. are still around.