Speculation that Negan would appear in season six resurfaced after Luck alum Tom Payne was cast as comics character Paul Monroe, aka “Jesus,” who eventually becomes a key member of the Alexandria community ahead of the war against The Saviors and Negan.

Showrunner Scott M. Gimple previously told THR that introducing Negan would be “challenging,” especially given the character’s penchant for f-bombs. “There’s a particular story in that arc that I’m very excited for. But because we know where we’re going, we have some opportunities to play around with it and put some things in that will lead up to [Negan and Alexandria] in different ways yet fulfill the story Robert told to the Nth degree by utilizing some slightly different approaches. Lineups and timelines and the whole nine yards.”

AMC’s Walking Dead has repeatedly teased the character’s introduction with a scene in the season five trailer depicting a member of the Terminus community poised to take a swing at Glenn’s (Steven Yeun) head with a baseball bat. The beloved character also has been seen from time to time utilizing a baseball bat as a weapon, most recently during season five when the series visited Noah’s (Tyler James Williams) home.

Furthermore, part of the backlash against Glenn’s apparent “death” comes from diehard comics fans upset that the series would “remix” Negan’s first appearance and Glenn’s ultimate demise in one of, if not the most defining moment of the comics.

“That’s one of those questions that any way that I answer could spoil five different parts of the story,” Gimple told THR when asked why the series may potentially have killed Glenn off vs. having it come via Negan. “But I hope to show you. We will be showing it. You will be learning the answer to that question as you watch. If I were to answer it now, I would wind up revealing all sorts of stuff from different directions. The lame way of saying it is: You’ll have to see.”

For Morgan, the Walking Dead role marks his latest small-screen gig. The actor, currently a series regular on CBS’ critical darling The Good Wife, previously starred on season two of the network’s Halle Berry drama Extant. Before that, he toplined two seasons of Starz’s Magic City and had a memorable arc on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. On the film side, Morgan is no stranger to comic book adaptations and will play Thomas Wayne in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He also starred in Alan Moore’s graphic novel take Watchmen. Morgan is repped by UTA, Rob Gomez Management and Bloom Hergott.