The Walking Dead casts Jeffrey Dean Morgan as villainous Negan

The hit zombie apocalypse saga has cast actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the brutal and depraved yet charismatic villain, according to industry media The Hollywood Reporterand Variety.

He is theprimary antagonist of Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comic series, on which the blockbuster AMC show is loosely based. It's expected he will make his first appearance in the current season's upcoming finale episode and return next season.

• The Walking Dead follows Game of Thrones in character killing
• The Walking Dead's Chandler Riggs looks to life beyond zombies

Known in the comic for his foul mouth, ruthless rule and vicious wielding of a barbed wire-covered bat he callsLucille, Negan is the violent, swaggering sociopath leader of a roaming band known as The Saviours.

Negan is responsible for the brutal death of a main character in the comic book (a core character whose fate is in question after a mid-season cliffhanger) and isdepicted as even more twisted and dastardly than earlier villain The Governor, who was portrayed on the TV series by David Morrissey.

Morgan is a familiar face from film and television, appearing most recently as private investigator Jason Crouse on TV drama The Good Wife. Previous roles include the comic-to-movie adaptation Watchmen and recurring appearances on TV's Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural and Weeds.

• Fear the Walking Dead charts rise of zombie outbreak

The Walking Dead was renewed for a seventh season on Oct.30.