The Walking Dead season 11 has been started for a few weeks now and is dominated by a big conflict: Maggie vs. Negan. A shame, really. After all, the baseball bat fan is among the most overrated characters in the zombie series.
Virtually no TV series villain has been as much hyped over the past few years as Negan from The Walking Dead. With his baseball bat Lucille, the charismatic villain smashed his way straight into the hearts of series fans. And this is despite the fact that he roughly killed fan favourite Glenn (Steven Yeun) during his first appearance.
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has become an essential part of The Walking Dead ever since and continues to play an important role in season 11. So long no other antagonist of the series lasted, and not even the iconic Governor (David Morrissey). There are many enthusiastic Negan fans out there. Wrongly so! Here’s why we believe Negan is the most overrated villain in the whole zombie series.
They could have made up for Negan’s exaggerated behavior by showing his human, close side more organically, thereby making him a more believable character. Sadly, The Walking Dead never manages to make the bond between Negan, the violent bully, and Negan, the sensitive normal guy. On the contrary, the two come across as two different characters that are difficult to reconcile.
For example, with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the tug of war between ruthlessness and empathy is obvious. By the end, the original protagonist of the zombie series had shades of gray; he was complex, multi-layered, and thus thrilling.
In contrast, Negan appears to only know black or white, making his acts of atrocity lose credibility. Talking easy one moment and smashing skulls the next as a seemingly logical punishment for wrongdoing? That fits the Joker, but not Negan, who sees death not as a game, but as a necessary evil. Stay tuned for more reasons why Negan is an overrated villain!
Forgiving Simon in season 8, episode 15? C’ Come on. That dude was trying to let you die, and you know it for a fact. How about Eugene handing Negan a test gun and suggesting that all the Saviors fire their weapons at the same time when they attack Rick’s squad? After all, how suspicious can you get without Negan getting suspicious?
At points like these, Negan displays his lack of judgment, which makes him significantly less menacing than would be worthy of a supervillain. After all, how threatening can you be if you’re so willing to be tricked and manipulated? Well, sorry Negan, but: The Walking Dead has had a lot of amazing villains in its 11 seasons. And you are definitely not at the top, and without a doubt the most overrated of them! Stay tuned for more reasons why Negan is an overrated villain!
The first time Negan made an appearance on The Walking Dead, he unleashed one of the most thrilling series climaxes of all time. Who will fall victim to his baseball bat Lucille? Throughout the summer break, we were forced to wait for the big decision.
Then at the beginning of season 7 we found out who it was going to be and were horrified by Negan’s unscrupulous brutality. However, the real shock followed later: that was pretty much all Negan had to offer as a villain.
The reason for this is how Negan is made. The leader of the Saviors has firm principles and rules. If you stick to them, you’re left alone. Anyone who violates them is severely punished. That is why we viewers always know exactly when he is going to strike.
However, the question is how brutal the whole thing is – ranging from a hot iron in the face to being burnt alive. In contrast to this are such characters as the governor or Negan’s right-hand man Simon (Steven Ogg), all of whom are in no way less than Negan when it comes to brute force, albeit completely unpredictable. Stay tuned for more reasons why Negan is an overrated villain!
In a doomsday scenario like in The Walking Dead, only those who are psychopaths remain as cool and casual as Negan. Yet Negan is not a psychopath, but rather an intrinsically deliberate guy who goes to extreme measures, therefore his relaxed nature comes across as contrived. Yes, we get it, you are the slightly cracked guy with the fashionably decorated baseball bat and the brand new leather jacket who likes to sit back and laugh nastily. Is there anything else coming?
Much worse: the depiction aims past his agenda to save the world. A businesslike, strategic determination might have underlined his motives much more clearly. This way he comes across as a ten-year-old who tries to be the coolest in the schoolyard.
This is unfortunately also significantly contributed to by actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan as one would imagine a villain to be as a child. However, Negan in the comics is already an absurdly exaggerated character. So the blame also lies with the original.
Do you think these four reasons are enough so we can assume Negan as one of the most overrated villains in TV series ever? Let us know you opinion in the comments section below.
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