Posted in: AMC, TV | Tagged: negan, Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead: Negan "Liked," "Respected" Rick Grimes: JD Morgan

The Walking Dead: Dead City star Jeffrey Dean Morgan on how Negan feels about Rick Grimes, and how the two characters were similar.

Published Mon, 10 Aug 2026 09:37:09 -0500

by Ray Flook

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Article Summary

The Walking Dead: Dead City puts Rick and Negan back in focus when Negan revives Rick Grimes' infamous three questions.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan says Negan liked and respected Rick Grimes, seeing him as one of the few true leaders he admired.
Morgan explains The Walking Dead rivals Rick and Negan were more alike than different, each driven to protect a community.
A Dead City moment with Maggie also echoes Negan's old line to Rick about farming, underscoring how different they remain.

We've long made the argument that as much as we're looking forward to Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) reuniting, it's a possible one-on-one between Rick and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) that's at the top of our list. Thanks to this week's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3, starring Morgan and Lauren Cohan, that topic is back on the front burner. At one point, Negan devises a way to "convince" the leaders of two warring groups of survivors who brought their drama into NYC to settle their differences. "You see, I used to know… well, we'll call him an 'asshole.' And he would ask people three questions, and that would decide whether or not they would stay as part of the community. But see, I'm not in the mood to be asking any questions. So, we're going to play a game," Negan shares with the two leaders, who are chained up and giving him their full attention. As TWD fans know, those three questions that Rick would ask were, "How many walkers have you killed?", "How many people have you killed?", and "Why?" With Negan quoting the man who would eventually slit his throat and throw him into a prison to watch the rest of the world move on without him, how's Negan feeling about Rick?

The Walking Dead — THE WALKING DEAD (Image: AMC Global Media)

"I think Negan a long time ago came to a conclusion that he liked Rick. I think he respected Rick, and one of the only people he really respected at that time was Rick Grimes," Morgan shared with Entertainment Weekly. "Yeah, they were going at it. But there was something about Rick. I don't think they were completely far off in things they'd done and who they are. They were both trying to lead people. They were both trying to do right by their communities. Negan just did it in a completely different way – generally in the smiley, evil way. Rick had better reasoning and feelings over what he would have to do, whereas Negan never regretted much." Morgan added, "I don't think they were completely who they were. I think they're very similar in a lot of ways. And even when I call him an a**hole with the bit about how he used to know this a**hole that used to ask these few questions – that's Negan being Negan. He could have said, 'I had a buddy once,' and it would've been fine. But I like that reference too."

There's also another moment, when Maggie (Cohan) asks for Negan's help in planting crops in Central Park – a request that Negan believes is a joke at first, before telling her that he has some business of his own he needs to take care of. Negan, not really seeing himself as a farmer, got us thinking back to what he said to Rick during that infamous "Glen" night: "I'm not growing a garden." It's also an interesting comparison to what Rick would've been more than happy to spend his life doing back during "The Prison" seasons.

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