‘Walking Dead’ just cast a bad, bad character

Many “Walking Dead” fans have been moping about over the past few weeks due to an unexpected and violent character death. Now the recent casting news of actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan has readers of the comic books in a tizzy.

Hero Complex can confirm that Morgan has been officially cast in the role of Negan, an insidious comic book character we’ve yet to see in the TV adaptation. The news was originally reported by the Hollywood Reporter. Warning: Spoiler talk follows.

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A few episodes back, the character Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) appeared to have toppled over onto a horde of hungry, hungry walkers. The camera then cut to a tight shot of the character screaming while undead hands clawed at bloody remains. But the camera angle was so tight, it was impossible to tell if Glenn was being attacked or was merely freaking out over the horrible situation he was suddenly thrust into: another character, Nicholas, had committed suicide, falling over and throwing both of their bodies into the bloody mess.

The public was not amused, nor were they convinced when Yeun missed his farewell “Talking Dead” appearance, a staple for departing characters on the series.

All of that is changed now with the addition of Negan, a character who beats the black-and-white comic book version of Glenn to death with a barbed-wire-wrapped bat. It is one of the most graphic things the “Walking Dead” books (penned by the series’ executive producer Robert Kirkman) have ever done. And they’ve done a lot of terrible things.

So hold on to your hats, “Walking Dead” fans -- things could very well get even bloodier than Noah’s revolving-door death. Then again, the television show has never been wedded to the comics source material. So at this point, anything goes. But we’re betting that Glenn is still very much alive, for now.