While Hollywood loves a good revenge thriller like Nobody or even Cruella, vengeance-worthy situations usually play out differently on TV, where short and sweet storylines need expanding. Such is the case with The Walking Dead, where Lauren Cohan's Maggie Rhee has every reason to kill Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan, considering he smooshed her husband's head in several years prior to where the characters are currently at in Season 11. But will Maggie ever truly get an eye-for-an-eye revenge by killing Negan off? Perhaps surprisingly, Cohan may not fully be on board with the idea, for Maggie's sake.
Lauren Cohan doesn't seem to be too keen on Maggie going through the motions of making Negan pay the ultimate price for killing Glenn, and she explained that reasoning to EW, saying:
Let's say she kills Negan, and it seems like it's the solution to the problem. If she lets herself go down that road, I think she has truly let go of who she was. This is just Lauren speaking, but I think there's something to be gained for how they could reach a resolution. And I don't think Maggie's consciously thinking this, but she does know that if she lets that dark wave sort of crest and wash over her, then it's over. Everything you have struggled to keep alive in all these years as you've traipsed the earth, looking for a better life and a life worth living, it's over.
Perhaps if the Walking Dead characters were still consumed by the immediate aftermath of Negan's arrival, things would be different for Maggie, and Lauren Cohan might have felt more comfortable with her character plowing through moral codes in order to take Jeffrey Dean Morgan's villain down. But that was many years ago within the show's narrative (as well as the real world), and Maggie is at a different place in her life now.
For one, she learned how to survive as a widow and single mother while away from the communities that she'd called home for so long, facing many more challenges along that way that probably helped to mute the more acute pain from Glenn's death. As well, she's come across other villainous characters in her years away from the show's main characters, putting her up close and personal with villains every bit as murderous as Negan, and presumably ones with less personality and wit. (See: Season 11's Reapers.) So upon returning to her former friends and home — R.I.P. Hilltop — and seeing that Negan has unbelievably rehabilitated himself in some ways, it might not be as easy for Maggie to flip on the "kill 'em all" switch as easily as it was in the past.
Lauren Cohan spoke directly about Hershel's role in Maggie's life, explaining how taking the higher road with Negan is also meant to inform any future generations that come out of this mess.
And these animals she's come across out there, these animalistic people who are just eking out a life — that's them if they let it go. That's them if they give in to kill or be killed, and we can't let that happen. And she, thank God, has Hershel to fight for, and to fight for that life.
Which isn't to say that Negan and Maggie are going to share all kinds of heartwarming moments throughout the entire duration of Season 11, and it's not even a guarantee that Maggie won't kill Negan in some way, shape or form. Sure, they'll probably have to rely on each other's help a time or two, but it'll never be 100% comfortable.
While subscribers to the AMC+ streaming service already have access to the Season 11 premiere, The Walking Dead will return to AMC with new episodes starting Sunday, August 22, at 9:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to stay current with our 2021 Fall TV schedule.
