Gotta give this to "The Walking Dead": It's keeping itself entertaining in the wait for Season 7.

This is always a tough time, between seasons, as we wait for the new batch of 16 episodes to debut in October. When Season 7 arrives, it will pick up immediately from Negan's Season 6 finale swing and bring the answer to "Who did Negan kill?" Executive producer/comic book writer Robert Kirkman said that Negan's victim is "beloved to everyone," which may narrow down the choices.

There's been a lot of chatter about how the producers and AMC are working to keep the secret during filming. Producer/writer/director/special effects guru Greg Nicotero recently addressed the on-set spoiler issue by teasing to IGN, "the season's schedule doesn't 'necessarily mean that we're shooting in order' of the episodes."
Add to that the information from unnamed "sources" who told The Hollywood Reporter that all 11 of the people in Negan's lineup (Rick, Carl, Michonne, Eugene, Maggie, Sasha, Daryl, Aaron, Rosita, Abraham, Glenn) filmed death scenes.

Here's how they put it:

"Sources tell THR that each of the 11 cast members involved in the scene have already filmed a death scene. The Walking Dead producers and the episode director will then work with the show's editors and pick the character who does indeed die."

Many fans are calling BS on the idea that they shot a full 11 death scenes, and especially the suggestion that they haven't even picked the victim. The way that's phrased, it sounds like they are waiting to make a later choice, but how can you structure the rest of the season without that key starting point? And why would RK say the victim was beloved if the victim hadn't been picked yet? And would they keep the departed character/actor around all season just to throw people off? These are working actors who have other projects -- plus, the expense for AMC would be huge.

Speaking of AMC, if the producers shot 11 death scenes and will pick the victim later, then why did they reach out to spoiler site The Spoiling Dead Fans with a cease and desist, when a fan (erroneously) posted that TSDF was about to reveal the identity of Lucille's victim? Why would they care if that leak wouldn't even be accurate? (As it happens, there was no leak and it was just a fan's misinterpretation of TSDF saying they were getting close to discovering who Negan killed.)

It's really going to be fun to watch the TWD cast and producers bow and weave at Comic-Con, since there's very little they can be specific about -- in a Season 7 trailer or during panels -- without spoiling who lives into Season 7, which helps to narrow down who dies. Hopefully they don't just skip a trailer, since we always look forward to that shot of major hype every summer, but at this point they are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

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