AMC announced Wednesday that it has cast another key character from The Walking Dead comic books for The Walking Dead television series: actor Tom Payne will step into the role of Paul Monroe, aka "Jesus."
Jesus made his first comic book appearance in issue #91 of The Walking Dead as a survivor from the Hilltop Colony who moved to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. In the comics, the group led by Rick Grimes doesn't trust him at first, but eventually Jesus proves his worth and becomes one of Rick's trusted allies. He's a rational, logical and thoughtful man with good survival skills. He also acts as an advisor to others in the group.
Fans of the series hope this casting news means comic book villain Negan will appear soon. Jesus still plays a part in that storyline and becomes a key player in the fight against Negan.
Of course, if Negan appears on the show, some changes would be in order for the TV version of the character, particularly with his language: Negan curses a lot in the comic books. However, The Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple isn't ruling Negan out of the TV show.
"There's a particular story in that arc that I'm very excited for," Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter. "But because we know where we're going, we have some opportunities to play around with it and put some things in that will lead up to [Negan and Alexandria] in different ways yet fulfill the story Robert told to the Nth degree by utilizing some slightly different approaches."
Actor Andrew Lincoln, who portrays Rick on the series, believes that Negan will appear on the show soon, too.
"There are astonishingly brilliant and thrilling characters that I am convinced we would be idiots not to meet in our journey; I would be very surprised if we don't see Negan on the horizon in the not-too-distant future," said Lincoln.
Payne joins the cast of The Walking Dead for its upcoming sixth season, but also has an option to appear in Season 7. He joins two other new cast members, Corey Hawkins as Heath and Merritt Wever as Denise, as well as actors who recently became series regulars, including Lennie James as Morgan, Tovah Feldshuh as Deanna, Alexandra Breckenridge as Jessie and Austin Nichols as Spencer.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on October 11.
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