Why Jeffrey Dean Morgan won’t read The Walking Dead comics anymore

Jeffrey Dean Morgan explains why he doesn’t read The Walking Dead comics anymore, and honestly, it makes a lot of sense.

If you’ve read The Walking Dead comics, you likely have many favorite moments that you would love to see happen in the television series. Yet with the show being its own specific medium, it’s no surprise it’d detour here and there, and times completely go off track from the comics (R.I.P. Carl). As the show evolves, it’s always interesting to hear from actors who play comic-based characters, and see if they keep up with their story in the comics.

For Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan on the show, it’s the differences between the comics and the show that have stopped him from reading the comics anymore. In a reply to a fan on Twitter, Morgan explained that he wanted to create his own character and react to what was happening on the show, and not get too attached to comic book storylines.

He also continued on Twitter to explain that he still owns all of the comic book issues of The Walking Dead and that his son is a fan.

“I own them all. Gus reads. I will look at particular scenes if we film…but I’m saving them for when Negan is no more. Or show ends…ha!”

Morgan has also expressed in the past that he really enjoyed reading the comics to learn about Carl and Negan’s relationship, and was pretty upset to learn Carl would be killed off the show. In an Instagram post from February, Morgan wrote that “Honestly… a huge reason I wanted so badly to join this band of misfits… was because I was such a fan of the Negan Carl relationship in the comics… that storyline was one of my favorites, as I know it was one of yours. I’ll forever be [disappointed] we only scratched the surface of what could have been.”

For now though, it looks like Morgan wants to fully flesh out Negan as a character within the world the show has built — not Negan from the comics. And that makes sense, seeing as Negan’s TV persona has had different experiences and relationships amongst others than he did in the comics. For example, in the comics Negan does become very close to Carl whereas in the show, that relationship may happen instead with Rick’s daughter, Judith Grimes. We’ve already seen Professor Negan trying to teach little Judith some math — and can’t wait to see how their dynamic develops.

According to an interview from ComicBook.com, showrunner Angela Kang is excited for fans to see Negan’s story arc in the future, saying, “I think that there’s some interesting twists and turns to be had with Negan one way or the other.”

What about you? Are you a fan of both the comics and the television show? Or do you stick to one or the other? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!