Former Walking Dead actor Joshua Mikel reacts to Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) ongoing transformation from villain to fan-favorite anti-hero. Mikel played Jared, one of the more sadistic Saviors under Negan’s command, in Seasons 7 and 8 of The Walking Dead. After a vengeful Morgan Jones (Lennie James) feeds Jared to walkers at the height of All Out War, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) takes Negan prisoner to end the survivors’ war against the Saviors. Years of solitary confinement and one commuted sentence later, Negan is a free man after joining forces with Carol (Melissa McBride) and the Alexandrians to kill Alpha (Samantha Morton) and end the Whisperer War.
“I think it’s rad, good for him. It happens in the comic books, he finds his way in. I think it’s lovely,” Mikel told the Talk Dead to Me podcast about Morgan’s Negan. “I shot [then-showrunner Scott Gimple] an email and asked him, ‘Should I color [Jared] with any sort of chance of redemption?’ He’s like, ‘No, he’s a piece of garbage through and through, keep playing him that way.'”
Mikel continued, “But for Jeffrey to have that redemption, and for folks to believe it after the crime of offing Glenn and Abraham, or anyone to have any sort of endearment to that character is a testament to what Jeffrey’s doing on the show. And obviously, the writing team to try and manipulate that into somebody that they could even have any kind of kindness towards.”
Before his character died in Season 8 episode “Still Gotta Mean Something,” Mikel expected Jared to join the Saviors at the Sanctuary. But the Negan underling never made it to the Savior base, and Mikel never appeared opposite Morgan.
“The wild thing is, I never got to have a scene with Jeffrey Dean, which I was bummed [about],” Mikel said. “It was sad. I thought I was gonna make it to the compound at some point, but I never made it over there.”
Ahead of Season 10, Morgan said Negan has been “changed a little bit” by his six-plus years behind bars and his friendship with the young Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming), but acknowledged the ex-villain would always be a sharp-tongued troll.
“People want to say a redemption arc, I don’t know if it’s much of a redemption arc, because I think he’s always been who he is. We’ll see,” Morgan said during a 2019 convention appearance. “I don’t think that he’s excited for Negan to be Negan, I think he’s going to be battling a bunch of things within himself this season.”
Negan returns in the extended Season 10 of The Walking Dead, where his future is once again in jeopardy when the widowed Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) comes home after years away.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC with new episodes on Sunday, February 28. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.