A couple of characters from the comics have been added to "The Walking Dead" season 6. Denise and Heath, played by Merrit Wever and Corey Hawkins, respectively, are joining the cast in the new season. But there's one character comic fans want to see on the small screen.
Negan, the leader of a group of survivors named Saviors, has yet to appear in the series. When asked by Entertainment Weekly about the odds of the fan-favorite villain showing up in the AMC drama, showrunner Scott M. Gimple said, "It's absolutely a possibility."
But he was quick to explain, "And when I say it's a possibility, we have a plan in place, but there's a couple variables for that plan that we're deciding about. It really depends on a few factors as we move into setting up the last bit of the season story-wise."
Negan's inclusion in "The Walking Dead" will necessitate the appearance of Paul Monroe aka Jesus, who, in the comics, is responsible for trading goods and services between Alexandria and other communities such as Hilltop.
"The Walking Dead" comics creator Robert Kirkman said that adding Negan and Jesus to the series comes with the pressure to "get it right."
"Much like Rick Grimes in the beginning — that fans already have a sense of and expectations for," he explained. "So we're always careful, and I feel like we've done a really good job servicing those fan expectations. Hopefully that trend will continue if the characters you mention are to appear soon."
In "The Walking Dead" season 6, Rick and the group remain in Alexandria. In the comics, the gang stayed for years in the place that it had a three-year time jump. Executive producer David Alpert said that fans will see the events that transpired within this period in "bits and pieces."
"I don't think it's ever going to be doled out in one big exposition dump, because that would be inartful and Scott would never let that happen. Overall, the exploration of Alexandria, how that city got there, we're definitely going to get a lot of that this year," he told Zap2it.
"The Walking Dead" season 6 begins Oct. 11.
