Walking Dead fans won’t have to wait long to find out who Negan murdered in the closing moments of the season six finale once the show starts back up in October. The identity of the Savior leader’s victim will be confirmed in the season seven premiere, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“Yes, who was at the receiving end of Negan’s bat will be revealed in the first episode,” executive producer Greg Nicotero told EW.
In fact, Jeffrey Dean Morgan — who plays the villainous Negan — has even said that no time will have passed between season’s six’s cliffhanger ending and the opening scene of season seven. “We will pick up directly from what we saw [in the finale],” he told reporters in April. “Season seven is going to pick up right where we left off. So you’re going to see who’s on the end of that bat. I didn’t know it was going to be a cliffhanger until I watched the show. That was done in my world.”
Nicotero also expounded upon the type of scenes viewers can expect from Negan going forward, explaining that the big bad’s finale speech is a good indicator of his character. “Negan is that kind of guy,” Nicotero said. “He’s the kind of guy who imagines himself on stage at a high school production and he loves every second of it. So, I don’t really see a lot of quiet contemplative moments with Negan. I feel like with Negan it’s really going to be about him gesticulating and him sort of relishing in the sound of his own voice while he commands the stage in front of whoever’s alive.”
Read more at EW.com.
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Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com