How Walking Dead Fans Really Feel About Negan's Return In Season 11 Episode 14
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is just one of those characters fans love to hate. From his explosive entrance at the end of Season 6 to his dread-filled Season 7 introduction involving a piece of sporting equipment and the deaths of two beloved characters in "The Walking Dead" crew to the ensuing seasons filled with his scheming in a post-apocalyptic world, Negan is a villain who enters a tenuous pact of survival with people he formerly terrorized. As such, nobody is really exactly keen about his presence, and almost all of the surviving characters have had some rather negative run-ins with him. Few people are capable of the degree of kindness required to forgive such a heinous figure, but living in a zombie-filled world requires a few concessions when it comes to personal fulfillment of vengeance.
However, this kind of animosity often bubbles up to the surface when characters interact with Negan. Maggie (Lauren Cohen) must watch as Negan brutally kills her husband (Steven Yeun) with a baseball bat. Aaron (Ross Marquand) also loses a loved one due to his machinations, and of course, nobody can forget the brutal music-based torture of Daryl (Norman Reedus), who endures hours and hours of an upbeat song asking him to come to "Easy Street" (via YouTube).
Now,"The Walking Dead" Season 11 has brought back Negan into the spotlight, but how do fans of the show feel about the character's return?
The Walking Dead fans are divided over Negan's return
The last few episodes of "The Walking Dead" have dealt with the disparate alliance of survivor communities being courted by a highly bureaucratic (and heartless) group known as "The Commonwealth." They do not appear as villains at first, but the price of admission to their group is essentially giving up all freedom to live in safety and comfort under an iron grip. Of course, this doesn't sit well with many, and Negan's entrance back into the fray in Season 11, Episode 14, "The Rotten Core," is sure to light the proverbial powder keg. A guy who names an instrument of death after his dead wife probably doesn't take orders all that well, and it is revealed that he has gotten remarried and is expecting a child.
Fans converged on Twitter to respond to an official tweet from "The Walking Dead" account that shows Negan with a gun and a statement about how he is ready. Several viewers expressed their excitement to see Negan back in play. Twitter user @ZBTWDSPN said, "Negan is always READY," while @NVG4NS replied, "THAT'S MY MAN." Elsewhere, @LauraBongiovan9 added, "ALWAYS! NEGAN IS THE MAN!" However, not all fans were enthusiastic about Negan's return. Twitter user @KORYGRIMESS said that Negan seems ready to be killed by Maggie, while @richonnescamino agreed that he is ready to die and that they are ready to get it over with.
It seems then that there are two extremes when it comes to the character of Negan, with some fans happy about him getting involved, while other fans are still filled with contempt and hope Maggie will eventually get her revenge. Either way, the reaction of fans shows that Negan is a multi-faceted character that invokes strong opinions.