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Those in attendance at The Walking Dead: Dead City panel at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con saw the reunion of a lifetime when a teaser for the upcoming sophomore season revealed the return of Lucille — the barbed wire bat swung by Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan. The bat has been out of commission since the Season 10 finale of the flagship series, The Walking Dead, when Negan set it ablaze as a way to atone for his sins. From what we saw in the teaser, not only is the bat back in action, but Negan is whistling again — could this mean the character is stepping back into his old ways? Regardless of what course this will set Negan on, audiences were stoked to see Lucille make an appearance — and Morgan feels the exact same way.
During a recent conversation with Collider’s Christina Radish, Morgan talked about how excited he was to get back onto set with his favorite co-star, sharing,
“Well, I freaked out. I didn’t realize how much I missed her, not only as Negan, but as myself. Just getting to hold that damn bat again adds something to that character and the swagger and the confidence and the humor that Negan has. I think it’s been sorely missed. The second that she’s back in Negan’s hands, he is empowered in some way that he hasn’t been in the last few years. It was a cool thing, having her back.”
Negan and Lucille's Emotional Connection in 'The Walking Dead'
Morgan’s character isn’t the only one emotionally tied to the bat that has caused countless lives to be shattered, as the actor reveals that he, too, has a special bond with the inanimate object. Reflecting on how important it’s been to him while both on the set of The Walking Dead and its spin-off, Morgan said:
“Most people hand their props back to the prop guys in between shots, and I would never let anybody touch her. She’d go to my trailer with me. She’d go to the bathroom with me. She’d get coffee. They named her after my wife, played by my wife, so it was always good.”
When audiences last saw Negan in the finale of Dead City’s first season, he was being held prisoner by one of the show’s new big bads, Dama (Lisa Emery). With the knowledge that Lucille is re-entering the picture, it seems like Negan will eventually break free from his situation and seek vengeance the only way he knows how.
Season 1 of The Walking Dead: Dead City is now streaming on AMC+. Season 2 is set for a release window in 2025. Stay tuned at Collider for more of Radish's conversation with Morgan.
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Maggie and Negan travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world.
Release Date June 18, 2023
Seasons 1
Network AMC
Franchise(s) The Walking Dead
Directors Loren Yaconelli , Kevin Dowling , Gandja Monteiro
English (US) ·