If You're Concerned The Walking Dead Will Draw Out the Negan Death Reveal, Don't Worry

Updated on Oct 6, 2016 at 3:45 PM

Even months later, gut-wrenching season six finale of The Walking Dead is still fresh in our minds. We're still reeling and trying to come to terms with how everything went down. Going into the finale episode, there was one thing we dreaded that ended being our horrific reality: an awful cliffhanger. In the time since, the creators' defense of the finale has fallen on deaf ears; we're too busy puzzling out who Negan kills. Even so, we couldn't help but worry: what if we don't even get our answer in the season seven premiere? To help assuage your fears, we're rounded up a few quotes that help nail down when this reveal will go down. Find them ahead, then get even more details about season seven.

Showrunner Scott Gimple's Comments

Showrunner Scott Gimple participated in a conference call just after the finale aired, and gave us plenty of fodder to suggest we'll find out right away.

On how things will kick off, continued: "Without spoiling anything, things are going to start off very, very dark because everybody knows where we're starting."
On why it's important to kick off with the death: "I know — and have for a while — what is in 701. To show what happened in full force is the beginning of the next story."
On depicting the graphic gore of Negan's brutal murder: "I'm certain that we will be pushing some boundaries with it."
On how the premiere will handle the events of the finale: "I hope with [episode] 701 people see that it justifies the way we've decided to tell the story . . . I know what 701 is and I feel that it delivers on what 616 sets up."

Executive Producer Greg Nicotero

The Hollywood Reporter spoke at length with Greg Nicotero, who didn't necessarily confirm the timing of the reveal, but referred to it as the origin point of season seven.

On how the death will be a propellant for the whole season: "Knowing the fact that any death changes our characters and changes our people in a very dramatic way, what's exciting about season seven is how a death — any death — changes people and propels us in a different direction."
How Negan marks the beginning of a change in direction: "We're changing the direction of the show and bringing Negan in — it's a great time."

Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Comments

In an interview with Vulture, Jeffrey Dean Morgan offered quite a bit of insight on both the finale and the impending premiere.

On where the season begins: "Season seven picks up right where we left off and you'll see who was at the end of that bat and what happened from there."
On that devastating cliffhanger: "I didn't know it would be a cliffhanger until I watched the show."
On why the cliffhanger happened, and a reaffirmation of season seven's start: "That's where they wanted to end the story. It's not about the death of that person. And the death of the person kicks off season seven and that will be a big part of who is on the receiving end of Lucille."