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The Walking Dead casts Jeffrey Dean Morgan as villainous Negan

Batman has the Joker, Katniss has President Snow, Clarice Starling has Hannibal Lecter and now Rick Grimes – the embattled hero of TV's The Walking Dead – has Negan. The zombie apocalypse saga has cast actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the brutal and depraved yet charismatic villain.

Actor known for roles on Grey's Anatomy, The Good Wife, Supernatural

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan, seen at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, is joining The Walking Dead as the dastardly villain Negan. (Tony Felgueiras/Invision/Associated Press)
Batman has the Joker, Katniss has President Snow, Clarice Starling has Hannibal Lecter and now Rick Grimes – the embattled hero of TV's The Walking Dead – has Negan.

The hit zombie apocalypse saga has cast actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the brutal and depraved yet charismatic villain, according to industry media The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

He is the primary antagonist of Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comic series, on which the blockbuster AMC show is loosely based. It's expected he will make his first appearance in the current season's upcoming finale episode and return next season.

The news comes following an extensive casting search that set fans' imaginations running wild with which actor – from indie film regular Garret Dillahunt to Mad Men's Jon Hamm – would be cast in the coveted role.
An attendee of Walker Stalker Con 2013, a Walking Dead-themed convention held in Atlanta, is dressed as the villainous character Negan, complete with a replica of his barbed wire-covered baseball bat Lucille. (David Goldman/Associated Press)

Known in the comic for his foul mouth, ruthless rule and vicious wielding of a barbed wire-covered bat he calls Lucille, Negan is the violent, swaggering sociopath leader of a roaming band known as The Saviours. 

Negan is responsible for the brutal death of a main character in the comic book (a core character whose fate is in question after a mid-season cliffhanger) and is depicted as even more twisted and dastardly than earlier villain The Governor, who was portrayed on the TV series by David Morrissey. 

Morgan is a familiar face from film and television, appearing most recently as private investigator Jason Crouse on TV drama The Good Wife. Previous roles include the comic-to-movie adaptation Watchmen and recurring appearances on TV's Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural and Weeds.

Currently in its sixth season, AMC's The Walking Dead has joined HBO's Game of Thrones as one of today's must-see-TV blockbusters, with soaring viewership and ratings in recent years. It also spawned a spin-off set in the same world, Fear the Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead was renewed for a seventh season on Oct. 30.

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