Did Jeffrey Dean Morgan Just Confirm Negan's Fate On The Walking Dead?

"The Walking Dead" has been on the air for more than a decade. Let that settle for a second. It's safe to say that in the early days of the series' run, even the most optimistic of fans couldn't have foreseen "The Walking Dead" lasting as long as it has. Nor could they have imagined how much cast turnover the series could tolerate without seeing its creative fortunes crater.

Fans of the Robert Kirkman comics series that inspired "The Walking Dead" would be quick to point out many of the show's departures were always part of the narrative. Others (like Andrew Lincoln's heroic Rick Grimes), not so much. Even as characters too numerous to recount have come, gone, and occasionally returned to "The Walking Dead" over the years, the show has continued to boast a fervid fan base who've embraced major departures and series spin-offs with just as much intensity.  

Not surprisingly, at least one more "The Walking Dead" spin-off is actually in the works, with Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) set to continue their story at series' end. And if Jeffrey Dean Morgan has any say about it, his Negan may get a spin-off too. The actor recently told TVLine, "There've been things discussed with me and network people" regarding such a series, thus teasing his character may survive Season 11, despite Maggie's (Lauren Cohan) sincerest hopes to the contrary.

That's not really a spoiler, as Morgan freely acknowledged any spin-off would be affected by his character's less-than-certain Season 11 fate. 

"I mean, Negan could still find his way six feet under, so that could be a problem unless it's a prequel. But there are still stories to be told with Negan," the actor said. Though many expect his character to perish sometime in the final season of "The Walking Dead," Negan has become one the show's most intriguing characters in recent seasons, and Morgan himself clearly thinks not continuing Negan's story beyond Season 11 would be a mistake, stating, "There's an amazing opportunity to dive a lot deeper into this man who I think has become very interesting the last few years. I'm certainly not opposed to keeping him alive for a bit longer and finding out more about him."

Even as much as Morgan enjoyed briefly glimpsing Negan's past in the Season 10C highlight "Here's Negan," he told TVLine he believes the best of Negan's story is still ahead. "I'll be very honest with you, if I was to do more, I would like to move forward with the story and not backward. We've shown these different sides of Negan over the past few years. Now I'd like to see, after this ends, what happens to him next. I find that possibility to be a lot more interesting than going back in time." 

The question now becomes whether or not Jeffrey Dean Morgan's AMC bosses agree.