Morgan even performed the chilling whistle during the AMC show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024

The Walking Dead: Dead City is nearing its chilling return — and it appears Jeffrey Dean Morgan is not messing around.

On Friday, July 26, fans were in for a treat when a new teaser for season 2 of the post-apocalyptic spinoff series was debuted during the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.

The chilling video begins with a voiceover from Dama (Lisa Emery), who was introduced in the season 1 finale of the show, saying, “The world was rigged. Designed to rip us apart. That was the world of the Dead.”

Then, Negan (Morgan) is shown removing his hood in the shadows before his eery whistle is heard. Fans also get to see him walking and dragging Lucille behind him. After scenes from the upcoming season are shown, the final moments of the teaser show Negan meeting up with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in a tense moment.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’.Robert Clark/AMC

During the July 26 panel, Morgan encouraged the crowd to take a page out of the teaser’s book and try their hand at their own whistle.

A video captured by Entertainment Weekly‘s Dalton Ross showed the moment as Morgan joked about his horse voice before having the crowd join in.

Morgan also spoke about playing Negan, saying: “What I find so interesting about Negan is when I originally stepped into that leather jacket, for a couple of years it was very much the Negan that walked out of the Winnebago. And then a couple of years later we started seeing some changes, and I think that’s the joy for an actor, is playing something that is changing and moving.… He has to grow. he has no choice. And some of it has to do with waking up.”

Jeffrey Dean Morgan at “The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2” Panel at the 2024 San Diego International Comic-Con on July 26, 2024 in San Diego, California.Michael Buckner/GETTY

The panel also featured a big announcement for season 2: four new actors would be joining the series.

Series creator Eli Jorné announced, “We have Keir Gilchrist coming in. If you guys know Keir, he’s playing Benjamin Pierce. We have Dascha Polanco who’s going to be playing Major Lucia Narvaez. Yeah, we got Jake Weary playing a character named Christos. And then we have Pooya Mohseni playing a character named Roksana.”

“They’re all unbelievable actors and unbelievable in the show, and I think you’re going to really like what those characters are and what those actors have done with the characters,” he continued. “It’s really fun, really big new world with these characters and performances.”

From left: Eli Jorne, Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gaius Charles and Zeljko Ivanekat “The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2” Panel at the 2024 San Diego International Comic-Con on July 26, 2024 in San Diego, California.Michael Buckner/GETTY

The Walking Dead: Dead City is the franchise’s fourth spinoff overall and season 1 premiered in June 2023. Dead City is a direct sequel to the original The Walking Dead series. Starring Cohan and Morgan, the show follows their Walking Dead characters, Maggie and Negan, in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan.

Maggie and Negan “find themselves trapped on opposite sides” in season two with the growing war for control of Manhattan reaching new heights, according to an official synopsis. “As their paths intertwine, they come to see that the way out for both is more complicated and harrowing than they ever imagined.”

Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ season 2.Robert Clark/AMC

As fans may recall, the first season of the hit AMC series left off with Maggie betraying Negan before handing him over to Croat (Željko Ivanek), who proceeded to give him to his boss Dama (Lisa Emery). Dama then offered him a position on her leadership team.

Morgan told Entertainment Weekly in July 2023 that he thinks his character is “f—ed.”

“He’s in a position that he didn’t anticipate being in — certainly,” he added.

From left: Trey Santiago-Hudson, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’. Peter Kramer/AMC

However, Morgan noted that fans shouldn’t count his character out, explaining, “Any time he can get put into a corner, fun things are going to happen. And so now we leave off here with Negan in a corner and we’ll get to tell the story of him trying to get out of it because he’s in a bad position right now, and he knows it.”

“That’s a rare position for him, other than when he was in jail for, you know, 10 years in Alexandria,” he added.

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 is set to premiere in 2025 on AMC and AMC+.