While AMC's The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its sixth season this Sunday, comic book fans are already looking ahead to the arrival of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Without delving into spoiler territory, Negan is easily the biggest bad that Rick & Company have ever had to face, and it's not a stretch to say that the citizens of Alexandria will be in mortal peril as long as he's around. Before they get to that point, they'll have to survive the encroaching horde of Walkers currently shambling around inside the walls of the town. But some day soon, Negan will make his first fearsome appearance.

That appearance will likely be in the season finale if EW's recent write-up is any indication. It comes as part of their extensive coverage of The Walking Dead with the cast and crew as they look ahead to this weekend's midseason premiere. Stars Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan, however, are already talking about the season finale script which was so disturbing to them that they each felt physically ill after reading it.


Image via AMC[/caption]

Here's what Lincoln had to say about the finale:

“I felt sick to my stomach when I read the script. It was the first day in the whole six years of working on The Walking Dead that I was late for work because I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I was so angry and frustrated and I felt sick. And that was just after reading it.”

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Image via AMC

Cohan had a similar reaction:

“[Hearing] the word ‘finale’ gives me a physical reaction because it’s the hardest day on set that I’ve ever had in my life. I never even imagined that as an actor you could have that experience. It’s one of the most raw experiences that I think any of us have ever had. Andy talks about being late to work; I didn’t want to go to work that day. It took a really, really long time for everybody to feel okay again after the finale, let’s put it that way.”

Fans of the comic books probably know what's coming, but The Walking Dead has certainly changed events from Robert Kirkman's storylines in the past. Whatever is coming in the season finale, it will come after a harrowing experience for the Alexandrians, and will likely leave everyone reeling until the show returns this fall.

In the meantime, check out these delightful exclusive EW covers below:


Image via EW/Dan Winters[/caption]


Image via EW/Dan Winters[/caption]


Image via EW/Dan Winters[/caption]


Image via EW/Dan Winters[/caption]


Image via EW/Dan Winters[/caption]


Image via EW/Dan Winters[/caption]