The Walking Dead
“The Walking Dead” Season 6 finale has been extended to a 90-minute episode to help introduce a new villain to the series. Above, actor Norman Reedus appears as “The Walking Dead” character Daryl Dixon. AMC

Although there are only two episodes left of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” Season 6, fans have been offered a little solace by way of the revelation of the finale’s running time. In line with a growing trend of expanding episode times, the April 3 finale has been lengthened from one hour to 90 minutes.

AMC has chosen to give fans an extra 30 minutes of content in the final episode of the latest season of the hit zombie drama to wrap up the current storyline and set the stage for Season 7, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Precious little is known about what will happen in the finale other than the introduction of the character who is arguably the most interesting villain the series has ever seen, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

The character wound up being something of a big deal when he arrived in the comic books in issue No. 100. Now, fans everywhere are excited to see him finally brought to life on the AMC show. It appears that to do the introduction of Negan justice and still have a compelling story to conclude Season 6, “The Walking Dead” will need an extra half hour.

As ComicBook.com pointed out, this isn’t the first time that AMC has surprised fans by expanding the running time of an episode. The Season 5 finale was 90 minutes long, as were the Season 6 premiere and the divergent origin story of Morgan titled “Here’s Not Here.”

While fans are generally excited to receive more content from the series than they were expecting, the extra 30 minutes just gives the show more opportunities to have something bad happen to the characters they’ve grown to know and love. Negan’s arrival in the comic books [SPOILER ALERT] came with the loss of a main character as a stakes-raising measure to prove he’s got a bit more bite to him than the likes of Gareth (Andrew J. West), the Governor (David Morrissey) or the Wolves. Many believe the television series will seek to introduce the character in the same way, which means the 90-minute finale may feature a character death, as well as enough screen time for it to impact the other characters before the show breaks until Season 7.

Previously, stars such as Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus and Steven Yeun have said they believe the Season 6 finale to be among the best, most brutal and most deadly in the show’s run.

“We just wrapped 24 hours ago on what I think is the darkest and most extraordinary season finale that we’ve ever attempted,” Lincoln told the Wrap. “To say that I’m excited would be a vast understatement. And it ends with a very big bang.”

“The Walking Dead” Season 6 finale is expected to air on AMC April 3. Will you be tuning in to Negan’s introduction? Comment below or tweet your thoughts to @TylerMcCarthy.

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