Jeffrey Dean Morgan to play Negan on 'The Walking Dead'

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Jeffrey Dean Morgan has reportedly joined the cast of The Walking Dead.

The 49-year-old actor will play the villainous character Negan on season 6 of the AMC drama. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter Morgan will first appear on the season finale in April 2016, and be upped to series regular in season 7.

In the Image Comics series, Negan is the tyrannical leader of the Saviors group of survivors in Washington, D.C. The character carries a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire named Lucille, and possesses a harem of other men's girlfriends and wives.

Matt Dillon (Wayward Pines), Timothy Olyphant (Justified) and Garrett Dillahunt (Raising Hope) were also considered for the role. Dillahunt expressed his interest last week, tweeting, "They are looking at some great actors and will make the best choice for the show."

The Walking Dead sparked speculation by removing Steven Yeun's name from the credits on Sunday's episode. The 31-year-old actor portrays Glenn Rhee. Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan and Chandler Riggs also star.

Morgan is known for playing John Winchester on Supernatural, Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy and Ike Evans on Magic City. He currently portrays Jason Crouse on The Good Wife season 7, which airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.