In an exclusive report today from Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com, it was revealed that Hillarie Burton has been tapped to play Lucille (Negan’s deceased wife) in one of the six new episodes being added to Season 10 next year.
Burton also happens to be married to Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the two wed in 2019), although one hopes their real life chemistry is better than it’s likely to be portrayed the show. In the comics, Negan is having a pre-apocalypse affair when his wife is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He cuts ties with his mistress and spends all the time he can with her, but she still succumbs to the disease and dies.
(Image Comics/’Here’s Negan’)
Lucille’s death happens concurrently with the world beginning to fall apart as the dead begin to reanimate. As most of you know (or have figured out by this point), Negan ended up naming his famed barbed-wire baseball bat after her.
Later it was shown that Negan traveled back to the hospital where Lucille died, recovered her remains, and gave her a proper burial.
(Hilarie Burton/Grey’s Anatomy)
As far as how The Walking Dead television series will ask Hilarie Burton to portray the role, it’s safe to assume it will be in a Negan-centric episode featuring lots of flashbacks. If it’s anywhere near as good as the exploration of Negan’s backstory in the comics, then the episode should be great.
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