Jeffrey Dean Morgan insists that his character Negan will inflict a "hyper-violent" reign of terror in the new season of The Walking Dead.
The show's seventh season is promising to be the most violent in the comic book adaptation's history – no mean feat, that – with the nasty Negan holding Rick and most of his crew captive from the season six cliffhanger.
When the show returns at the end of the month (Oct 23 in the US and the following night on FOX UK), at least one of the gang will be beaten to death by the man with the barbed-wire-covered baseball bat.
In new promotional interviews for The Walking Dead, Morgan is taunting fans who have been waiting for the comic book villain to begin his bludgeoning badness on the show.
"You need to be very careful about what you wish for because you are going to get it and more this year. It's emotional. It's hard. It's hyper-violent," he said. "It's a lot to take. When the audience sees it, they will know exactly what 'a lot' means."
The former Good Wife star also warned: "You won't be able to see Negan without thinking of the premiere episode. What he does is so strong and so shocking.
"The way Negan inflicts damage is so original to Negan, that whenever he comes on screen you will not know what to expect."
Even The Walking Dead's leading man Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes, admits that Negan is the most dangerous threat that the band of survivors has ever faced. And that's really saying something.
"We are seven years in and we are only unleashing now probably the greatest villain of the series," he claims. "It's a very thrilling and exciting time. It does feel like we are smashing everything and starting over."
Has Rick finally met his match? "Without a doubt," says Lincoln, "Absolutely. Everything is changed. The playing field has irrevocably changed."
