Hilarie Burton joins husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan on The Walking Dead

ComicBook.com

Burton will play Lucille, the wife of Morgan's Negan, in one of the six Season 10 bonus episodes airing early next year. Lucille died from cancer several years before the series takes place, prompting him to name his signature weapon baseball bat after her. "Been pretty hard to keep this a secret," tweeted Burton. "But I love working with @JDMorgan. I love watching him become #Negan and take on that swagger. And I love the @TheWalkingDead family. They’ve been a part of our family for ages and I’m so grateful for their kindness. Xoxo #hereslucille." Earlier this year, Burton and Morgan began starring together in AMC's pandemic talk show Friday Night In with the Morgans. As ComicBook.com explains, "In Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comics, Negan was married to a woman named Lucille prior to the end of the world. In the final days of the normal world, Lucille was battling cancer. The marriage was not traditional, as Negan had been having an affair which his wife was aware of prior to her diagnosis. Following the diagnosis, Negan wanted to spend as much time with his wife as possible, ultimately calling his affair off and dedicating all of his time to Lucille. When Lucille passed away, the moment of death came nearly simultaneously to the world falling and the zombie virus beginning to spread. Lucille reanimated as a walker in her hospital bed. As the story goes, Negan named a baseball bat which he used to protect himself and others after his late wife. The infamous bat has since appeared on The Walking Dead."