At that point I don't think anyone including Negan viewed Carl as a child. Pretty sure he was going to kill Carl in that moment.

I would like to think that he was torturing Rick and not really going to hit Carl but probably hit Rick

He was a P.E. teacher. He loved kids

I’m torn. On one hand, Negan keeps his promises and backing out of a swing would show weakness. But on the other hand… if nothing else, killing Carl would show Negan’s people that Negan’s rules are flexible and can be adjusted at will. Negan knew the importance of strong boundaries to keep order. My gut feeling is that he would have pivoted and done something worse, similar to the Glenn and Abraham situation. What that “worse” could be, I’m not sure. Or he would have just put Carl in the truck and taken him away, something that would drive Rick into submission.

I think he definitely didn’t want to, but he was running out of options to maintain order in his ranks by showing strength and getting Rick and the others in line

YES I think he was fully prepared to bash his head, Rick wasn't caving, even after taking everything, after Glenn, Abe, taking Daryl, beating Aaron, killing Olivia, Spencer, taking Eugene, all that just made our group more determined to fight against him, so yes by this point I think he was out of moves, he was intending to make a lasting impression on the group.

😠He choked up on the bat, so negan was gonna swing.I miss Carl...

Tbh i dont think he wouldve. I think like u said. He was probably gonna act like he was gonna hit carl then Maybe hit rick. Even if he was gonna kill carl he would probably feel awful about it. He felt awful in season 8 when carl died.

I always wondered what would have happened if Negan killed carl. Rick should have killed Negan. Letting him live was dumb.

Negan didn't want to kill Carl, but in order to stop the war. I do believe he would have. As we know though, things like that, always backfire.

I'm going to say i personally don't believe negan would have killed carl, it wouldn't have been the first time that negan pulled a fakeout. Remember when negan acted like he was going to swing lucille at daryl but then daryl just stood there with his hair in front of his eyes!? Yeah i believe it would have been a repeated situation with carl! there are multiple possibilities of what the outcome of negan fakeout lucille victim of carl, A) negan hurt carl but doesn't kill him with lucille like aiming for limbs, B) negan make someone else a lucille victim most likely michonne to punish rick and since michonne is already badly wounded, C) negan would punish carl in spite for rick like how daryl was in the sanctuary so carl would be daryl's replacement being forced to listen to 🎶 we on easy street🎶 negan said in the very said episode that he is going to start this all over again because negan blames himself for being to friendly with rick that this is karma for negan for being to soft with this group and in negan's mind that what cause so much push back from this group. Because of negan's leniency to everything relating to rick's group, from carl shooting a gun at the savior for taking half of the medicine to sasha infiltrate the sanctuary to assassinate negan. Negan feels like on the second try on this "Brand new beginning" negan will be more stern and firm on the consequences of Alexandria actions no matter how big or small, so next time i think negan is going to remove warnings. Warnings are going to be off the table so whoever replaces ovliva if that person is not doing a good job keeping track of guns or rations, negan will immediately kill that person without a second thought. No more warnings or chances for rick to salvage the situation. Rick will experience a different less jokey and more serious negan.

And I remember the Character Brandon that was with Negan Brandon is the Son of one of the Saviors in the TV Show and we also remember Brandon rose in the Comic he is the Son of Tammy Rose and Morton Residents at the Hilltop

No it was bluff imo, I think he was gonna swing at Rick at the last second.

he definitely was going to kill Carl

Its a tough one.. I wouldn't think Negan would have but there's no doubt he was about to swing...I kinda put that on the writers knowing that Shiva (tiger) was gonna stop him they wrote it to be suspenseful. But Negan doesn't kill kids plus he was rather close to Carl. Kind of a cheap fake out by the writers

He killed a 16 yr old from kingdom...so yeah he'd have killed carl

I always had a feeling that he was gonna redirect Lucille and hit Rick at the last second. Negan later claims in season 10 that he would never kill a kid, and the scene is written for him to be truly disgusted that someone thought he did. Simon killed kids and Negan kept him around, thats about the most harm he’s directly done to kids from my knowledge (other than taking away their community’s supplies lol) Believe it or not Carl is only about 14-15 by the time of his demise in season 8. So I find it really hard to believe Negan would kill him

Q&A James, have you ever thought about doing the evolution of Carol that would be a cool subject?

Negan was gonna do it. Also Carl is a grown ass man I don't care what the timeline says. It's not like negan killed a literal kid. You could make a case for indirectly causing Harm due to his leadership style overall

Funny thing is he did kill a teenage kid but he really did like Carl so No I don't think he would had killed him

These Neganites are tweaking. YES, Negan was about to do that! He was LEANING back and about to swing for a homerun. His charisma doesn't negate that. Stop playing. He said a lot of things. Don't make them true.

he had to kill him at that point because he was a problem for them but i still don't think he would, if only shiva came a bit later so we would actually know

Wow! What a question? If it had been anyone else I would say yes but he respected Carl, so that makes me think that he may of been just trying to scare Rick even though it looks like he is going to do it. I keep thinking there was another scene where he threatens to cut Carl’s hand off & doesn’t but I can’t remember exactly when, so he may have been just doing it again. I mean Negan does have some morals but not many. He says he doesn’t approve of rape but he has his wifes and it’s not like they are with him voluntarily. He was a high school gym teacher so that explains why gets along well with kids & teenagers. I would say that he wouldn’t but there is really no way to know. His behavior is very erratic.

i just looked at the walking dead wiki to see what age he was at that point and someone has messed that up badly because it says he was only 3 in the flashback episode where Lori was told that Rick was shot

This moment ultimately does not count because the writing was not good. It does not mean anything because it betrays his character. This character moment is not canon

We Will Never Know 🤔 BUT Maybe!?!😲🤔😲😊🍁

I don’t think so

Yes he would have because Negan didn’t look like he was gonna stop right at his head.😐

Nope

Negan was definitely going to bash Carl with Lucille.

That was some scene! That look on his face was scary....But no, I really don't think he was going to kill Carl.

No it was just bad writing..