The Walking Dead Season 8 is almost here and the cast is looking back at their characters’ growth. We’ve seen Rick transform from the sheriff wanting to protect his family to a fearless leader ready to sacrifice his life to ensure others will pull through. And Rick’s story includes Morgan, the man who first gave him a chance to survive.
Fans have seen Morgan spiral and come back from the darkness. He had a mental breakdown when he lost both his son and his wife shortly after Rick left them in the beginning of the show. While more recent seasons see Morgan in a better place emotionally, he’s still struggling to let go of the past. Lennie James, who plays Morgan on the show, shared the one moment in his character’s life he regrets during The Walking Dead press conference at New York Comic Con 2017.
"That Morgan didn't put a bullet in his wife's head. I think that's his big regret," James said. "I think there are different opinions. If he loved his wife a little less or loved her a little more, I mean, the crux of the dilemma in Morgan's life is pulling that trigger or not pulling that trigger. Or if he didn't pull it for the right reasons or if he should've pulled it… Maybe his heart would be a little less broken. Maybe he would be a different man."
For those who need a refresher, we saw Morgan’s wife in walker form back in The Walking Dead Season 1. His walker wife had a habit of going up to their front door and twisting the door handle. It would upset Morgan’s son, Duane. One day after Rick left to find help, Duane encountered his walker mother. Duane couldn’t kill his mother, so her walker form ate him. Morgan had to put both of them down.
During the press conference, James was asked about the characters’ survival, how far they’ve come since the first season and if there was any advice the characters now would give to their past selves. James didn’t think there was any advice the characters could give to their past selves because they likely assumed they wouldn’t make it.
"I don't think any of the characters set out thinking they were going to be the ones that survive,” James said. “I think one of the brilliant things about the characterizations in The Walking Dead , and one of the brilliant things for us as actors, is that people have evolved. If you go back to the first season and look who those characters were in the beginning, you would not have picked out Carol, for example, to be the one who's most likely to survive. She's the one Morgan describes as our greatest warrior. You wouldn't have picked her out at the beginning, but that's what she's become."
The Walking Dead Season 8 premieres on Oct. 22 on AMC.
