Popverse's top stories

• Pan’s Labyrinth’s Pale Man lair hides a disturbing detail Guillermo del Toro didn't think you would notice

• Peter Cullen, the iconic voice of Optimus Prime, held a small but important place in anime history

• Jim Lee has some "crazy ideas" for more DC/Marvel crossovers, including "not just the characters everybody knows"

When Negan made his first onscreen appearance in The Walking Dead season six finale it felt world-shattering. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was menacing, unpredictable, and had the right amount of charisma. However, Jeffrey Dean Morgan felt like this version of Negan got lost over time. By the time the character became the co-lead of the spinoff The Walking Dead: Dead City, Negan had lost his menace, become too sympathetic, and no longer had the commanding presence he once did.

“I felt like last year we really got bogged down in season two, Negan especially,” Jeffrey Dead Morgan told Josh Horowitz during an episode of Happy Sad Confused. “From my point of view, all I did was cry, and he had lost his charisma, and everything that made him Negan. And I called Dan McDermott, who runs AMC, from my trailer after the last day of filming season two, and I said I can’t do it like this anymore. It’s been awesome, and thank you, and I love you. And that started a whole other conversation. ‘Before you run off Jeff, is there a way we can shift this and make it a show that we all think it should be?’”

McDermott addressed Morgan’s concerns, and Negan returned to his roots in Dead City season three. According to Morgan, he wasn’t the only one who felt the character had lost his way.

“I think Lauren [Cohan, who plays Maggie] was there also. I was just the first one to call. I’m really quiet and I don’t often call anybody. If I’m calling, there’s something going on,” Morgan said. “Luckily, we brought in [writer and producer] Seth Hoffman, who I think injected so much, and I remember having my first phone conversation with him kind of one-on-one. ‘What are you looking for? What do you want to do?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, the dynamic has to change. There has to be more to it than she wants to kill me and I’m trying to make her not kill me and talk her out of it and save her. We’ve done it.’ And I just wanted Negan back. I wanted his humor and charisma and his smartness back in the show. I felt like it just vanished. And we were able to do that.”

The Walking Dead: Dead City recently finished airing its third season. As of this writing AMC has not renewed the series for a fourth season.

Here's how to watch the Walking Dead TV series in order.