WARNING! THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Only a few episodes after the exit of Rick Grimes and Andrew Lincoln from the show, 'The Walking Dead' has just said goodbye to another of their characters, and this time, it's for good. The eighth episode in the ninth season ended with the death of Jesus, the character played by Tom Payne, who lost his life at the hands of of the Whisperers, the new threat the survivors must confront during the rest of the season. This death has come as quite a shock, since Jesus continues living in the comics; however, one person who did not shed many tears for the character's sudden ending, was Payne himself. In fact, he spoke about the treatment of his character in the AMC series, describing his growing frustration.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Payne revealed that, although Jesus's exit from the show was not his own choice, at no moment was he opposed to the ending as he felt frustrated by the treatment his character was receiving in the series: "They were aware I wouldn't be unhappy if they got rid of me. I expressed unhappiness last season. I was very frustrated with what the character had been doing. He arrived in a very cool way, and then he floundered at the Hilltop." While in the comics Jesus is one of the most important fighters in the group, Payne himself highlighted that on screen the character has not had as much action as he would have liked. "He's the most capable member of the entire group! And he wasn't used at all [on the show]. In the background, I was training every single week. I was ready and raring to go. You can't help but feel a little bit despondent when you're not released to do some cool stuff. It was mutual and they knew I would be OK with it. It's an amazing show and I was so honored to be a part of it, but at the same time, being the same character without anything fun to do is a bit frustrating."
All of the discontent that Tom Payne felt due to his character's under-representation in the show meant that, when the news of Jesus's death came to him, his only request was that his character, with whom he had been since season six, would have an impressive ending. "When the call came, Angela Kang was surprised at how laid back I was about it. [...] She called and told me, and I said, "Yeah, as long as it's a cool ending!" Because this character really is such a strong character. It would have to be a ton of people or a real surprise in order for him to die, which is what it ended up being. I wanted to make sure we were telling a story that surprises the audience. That's what the show is all about: no one is safe."
Although Jesus will not continue appearing in the series, Payne has left the door open to the possibility of a return with in the face of the expansion of 'The Walking Dead' universe, which is already being planned. He confirmed that he would put himself back in Jesus's shoes if he found it to be a good story, saying: "I would love to tell a story about Jesus' beginnings or whatever happened in those six years, and there's a lot of scope for that. If the material is strong, I would be interested."
The Showrunner Defends the Surprising Death
At this height of popularity, it is no surprise that 'The Walking Dead' is moving away from what we see in the comics, but the death of Jesus is, without a doubt, one of the biggest changes which has happened in the story with regards to the original comics. The current showrunner for the series, Angela Kang, justified the death in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying that it was necessary to surprise the audience in the face of the arrival of the Whisperers. She stated that with the death being Jesus, who originally does not die, then the audience would not expect it. "We knew something epic had to mark the real arrival of the Whisperers into the story. There's a character death that happens in the comic books when it happens, but we've often deviated from the comics, and this was something we felt needed to be a surprise. It's a character whose life really matters to everybody in this group and the people who are left behind. It's going to have a big impact on them. It has a big impact on the story."
To find out how this death will impact on the next few episodes, we will have to wait for the return of the ninth season of 'The Walking Dead' next February.
