The midseason finale of "The Walking Dead" featured the death of Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh), and the colony boss left the Alexandrians in Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) care. Last Sunday's episode also introduced Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. In the comics, Negan is the leader of a group who call themselves the Saviors, and while fans of the comic books know that Negan's appearance means the death of Glenn (Steven Yeun), showrunner Scott M. Gimple teased that the beloved character might not meet his demise after all.
Earlier this month, Glenn was revealed to be alive after surviving a zombie attack by hiding in a dumpster, but viewers thought that this plot twist is a set-up for his face-off with Negan. In the comics, Negan bashes in Glenn's head with a bat wrapped in barbed wire which he lovingly calls Lucille, but Gimple said that that may not be the fate that awaits Glenn when the show returns next year.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the showrunner said that while season 6B has "a lot of moments directly out of the book when it comes to the Saviors," fans should also expect "some hard left turns" from the comic story. This could possibly mean that Glenn won't meet his demise when the series returns, but it's also possible that another fan favorite will be the victim of Lucille's blows.
Meanwhile, Lincoln spoke with Huffington Post about the show's upcoming episodes, and the actor said that if people were shocked during the first half of the season, there's more to come when the show returns as the last 30 seconds of the midseason finale "propels the story arc for the next maybe eight episodes."
"Get ready because two and three [episodes] are like body blows and then four spins out into this indie arthouse movie," said Lincoln, adding that episode nine is "the most crazy episode we've ever had."
"I dropped my script when I read it," the actor revealed. "I was just like, 'Nooo! We're doing that?'…I think Scott Gimple and the team have just outdone themselves this season."
"The Walking Dead" returns on Feb. 14 at 9/8c on AMC.
