The Walking Dead season 9 to feature a changed Negan

Fans of The Walking Dead will see a very different, altered version of Negan, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan teased at San Diego Comic-Con.

Looks like captivity could change the egotistical tyrant we’ve come to loathe (or love), over the past few seasons of The Walking Dead. In the season 8 finale, Rick slashed Negan’s throat but decided to spare his life. The defeated leader of the Saviors would spend the rest of his days in a jail cell while the other communities he used to oppress came together to prove Negan was always wrong.

It’s not just his appearance that’s changed (he’s buzzed his hair short and has–well, a nasty scar where Rick maimed him), but his personality, his once overconfident swagger, even his outlook on life, have undergone a slight makeover.

During an interview with Variety at San Diego Comic-Con, Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan teased that Negan is a new man.

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"“I think Negan is having to take a good long, hard look in the mirror and maybe not enjoying what he’s seeing, and certainly not enjoying jail very much. So we’re definitely going to see a different side to Negan this year.”"

Co-star Normas Reedus added that he got to see some of Negan’s jail scenes in Season 9 and claimed that it showed a “very different Negan.”

The Season 9 Comic-Con trailer teased just a little bit of inmate Negan as he talks with Rick from the other side of the bars. Rick tells him that the communities who were once at war are now unified and thriving without him.

“That’s a real pretty picture you paint there, Rick,” Negan mumbles from deep inside the shadows of his cell, “When do I get to see it?”

It might be difficult to believe Negan could really change. He has got to lust for revenge. Throughout the trailer, he still taunts Rick that everything he thinks is running so smoothly will crumble.

But maybe time and some real humbling really have changed Negan.

"“He’s having to face some stuff, I think internally, as well as outside his jail, that he’s never had to face before. So we’re gonna see some different sides. And in saying that, Negan’s also getting an opportunity to interact with some people that are up on this stage that he hasn’t really had the chance to interact with before, which I think has been super fun for myself and Negan.” Next: Trailer for The Walking Dead season 9 gets Comic-Con premiere"

Seeing some errors in his ways might not be enough to save him. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Daryl (Norman Reedus), among countless others still want him dead. As the few last minutes of Season 8 suggested, they might even have to go through Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) to deal some harder justice.

Will Negan ever get beyond bars to see the new world Rick has talked so much about? I’d bet on it.

Seeing a new side of the character will be a fun experience to watch. The Walking Dead returns Sunday, October 7 on AMC.