star Jeffrey Dean Morgan has revealed alternate scenes for Negan's lineup in season 7, including one where he killed Maggie instead of Glenn. In season 7, episode 1, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be," Negan is introduced, making Rick Grimes and his group kneel as he decides which one of them to kill after they killed some of his Saviors. Negan eventually chooses Abraham alongside Maggie's husband Glenn, brutally smashing their heads in with his baseball bat Lucille.
Speaking with , Morgan explains how an alternate death scene was shot for everyone in season 7 lineup, including Maggie. The scene of Maggie dying eventually leaked online, which Morgan confirms was one of the alternate scenes shot for the lineup. Check out what Morgan had to say below:
"I was kind of sick of hitting people. And I felt bad for the other actors because it takes an emotional toll. Everyone was all cried and snotted out. And you'd think, 'But no one will ever see this.' It's just in case someone was flying a drone overhead.""There had been someone hired to loop in other languages in Europe, and they were leaking stuff. We had the leak narrowed down to a region, so that's the edit that got sent to the person doing the leaking: me killing Maggie."
While everyone's death was filmed for season 7's Negan lineup, it was important for the story that Glenn and Abraham were the ones to be killed for real. Abraham's demise influenced Sasha to try and kill Negan in the season 7 finale, setting the stage for the war in season 8. It also gave actor Michael Cudlitz a chance to direct episodes, even doing so in the final season.
As for Glenn, he was one of the first survivors Rick ever met on Glenn's death carried an emotional weight that influenced the war with the Saviors in season 8. Glenn's demise also led to Maggie and Negan's continued conflict, even after Negan tried to redeem himself. This conflict is expected to continue when Maggie and Negan team up in starting on June 18, 2023.
While Glenn and Abraham's deaths have been contentious since season 7 premiered, their survival could have made and other spinoffs impossible. Other lineup deaths may have been filmed, but having Glenn and Abraham die made the most sense for the direction the franchise has gone in. With universe expanding soon, it seems Glenn and Abraham's deaths might be brought up again in to tie up loose ends.
