Jeffrey Dean Morgan reveals alternate “Walking Dead: Dead City” finale ending he pitched

Dalton RossMon, September 14, 2026 at 12:01 PM UTC

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’Credit: Robert Clark/AMCKey Points -

Jeffrey Dean Morgan breaks down The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 finale and reveals he wanted to film two different outcomes to a key scene to keep the door open for a major change.

The actor explains why Negan stabbing Maggie was not an act of payback.

Morgan also weighs in on what’s next for Negan.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 finale, “Tenebrae.”

For a show that has the word Dead twice in its title, it should not be all that surprising that someone ended up getting killed on the season 3 finale of The Walking Dead: Dead City. Nor should it be surprising that the person who ended up deceased was quirky-bartender-turned-hostile-antagonist Dillard (Jimmi Simpson).

But what was surprising was the way it went down. Still royally pissed that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan had taken out his two walker friends, Dillard wanted to make amends with his former bar buddy, but insisted Negan first needed to prove they were indeed friends by stabbing Maggie (Lauren Cohan). And then that is exactly what Negan did.

But that was just to buy a little time before he attacked Dillard and the two traded blows. An injured Maggie eventually reentered the fray and chopped off Dillard’s arm as he was about to strike, leaving the barkeep to die in Negan’s arms.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for,” Negan said as his one-time buddy took his last breath.

Jimmi Simpson and Jeffrey Dean Morgan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

But there was a version in which Dillard actually survived the encounter and continued on into season 4. At least that version was bouncing around in Morgan’s mind.

“The only thing that I hated was losing Jimmi,” says the actor of the deadly finale encounter. “I didn’t wanna lose Jimmi.”

And being an executive producer of the series, Morgan actually did something about it.

“I had pitched the idea of shooting two endings — one where he lives and one where he dies,” Morgan reveals to Entertainment Weekly. “I went to Jimmi first, and Lauren and I talked, and then we went to [showrunner Seth Hoffman].”

Even if the Dead City creative team wanted to keep Simpson, it was a logistical impossibility, as the actor’s first contractual position is the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Dark Matter, which just started airing its second season.

“Jimmi’s got another show,” Morgan explains. “He’s too f---ing popular, and too f---ing popular with that show!”

The bright side is Dead City was able to give Dillard a truly poetic send-off, as his character was last seen as a zombie walking alongside the walkers that kept him at least semi-sane in the apocalypse.

“I loved Dillard being with his friends at the end,” Morgan notes. “And being where he kinda wanted to be — walking with his buddies and the Jets fans. I think that was kind of his ultimate happy place, where he wasn’t happy in this world, and he was happy in that one. I loved that ending. I couldn’t ever get that image out of my brain of him walking down Fifth Avenue with the walkers and doing his moaning and groaning and zombie talk.”

Morgan spoke to EW about Negan’s decision to stab Maggie, working with old friend Simpson, and where his character stands moving forward.

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What is the calculus for Negan when Dillard tells him to stab Maggie in the stomach, and he goes and does it?

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: He’s thinking that this is the only way he’s gonna save her. He knows that Dillard is gonna kill at least her, probably both of them, but for sure her. That’s gonna be his payback for Negan taking out his little special friends. So that’s the calculus. That’s the math that Negan’s doing in his head.

He’s like, “Look, I know that I can stab her and she’ll survive it. And I’m just gonna have to play this right.” So he’s taking a risk there that he stabs her in the right spot, she’s gonna go down, but she’s gonna be okay. And then he’s gonna have to take care of Dillard.

He’s buying time more than anything. He’s thinking on his feet as fast as he can. But he does think that Dillard is going to kill Maggie. And that Dillard’s ultimate revenge is to kill Maggie, because he knows that would hurt Negan the most. And Negan just hurt Dillard the most. It’s kind of as simple as that. It’s a split-second decision, and he kinda has to do it.

I mean, she did do it to him at the end of last season.

Maybe there’s a little bit of payback. “She stuck me twice. I’m gonna get you once.” [Laughs] I’m kidding. He’s worried about her and he’s kinda panicking there. He needs her to get up because he knows the walkers are coming and they’re trapped in that little cage area.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

Jimmi was so good this season at Dillard.

It was such a joy having him. I did a good portion of my work this year with him, and just getting to play with him every scene, we would do however many takes of any given scene, and it was different every single time. We were given so much leeway by the directors and Seth, and we would just play and play and play. And we’d come up with ideas on the spot, like, “Oh, what if you say this and I say this?”

We would just f---ing play around. That’s kind of who he is. And I’ve known him for a long time. He came home with me for Thanksgiving and we became really tight and I adore him.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, and Jimmi Simpson on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

We see Negan at the end living in the community and playing video games with everyone, so who is he here by the end of the season and moving forward?

I think his ultimate thing was he wants Maggie to be in charge. Now that she’s taken over that mantle and then asked him to kind of be the man who’s got her back, I think it’s an interesting place to be. He agrees to it. So he’s out of that hole that we find him in at the beginning of the season, and he is backing Maggie’s play. Which is f---ing interesting. I find that kind of fascinating on where we go with it.

But we see both of them in a place that they’re kind of comfortable with, which is not a place we’ve ever been before. And looking forward to what is next.

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