So I think part of the huge success of Negan as an adversary for Rick, and I think the reason why he polarizes — I think the fact that he polarizes is a good thing — is because he doesn’t see himself as a bad guy.
I think one of the fundamental decisions that Jeffrey Dean made was being very clear that he wasn’t trying to play a bad guy.
I think that ostensbly, the reason why he’s so iconic in that way — for me, anyway, since I don’t read the comic books, or I haven’t yet — it’s a lot to do with Jeffrey Dean and the way that he portrays it.
And a large chunk of it is down to JDM and the jobs that the writers have done.